Disappeared
by mortal-paralight
Summary: SEQUEL TO BATTERED AND CAPTURED! MAKE SURE TO READ BATTERED AND CAPTURED BEFORE READING THIS ONE! James has finally been taken into custody, Bella is missing and now, Edward and the Cullens are devastated. What will happen? What will become of Bella? Will she be found and brought back to her family or will she stay hidden to keep her family safe? R&R PLEASE! Beta is Dragongirl323
1. Preface

**Ok so you guys got to 250 in _Captured_ so here is what I promised: the preface to _Disappeared_! I'm hoping that it'll be to your liking and that you'll want to read the rest because I want this story to be great. So since Fanfiction doesn't always let you give out the full summary to your story, here is the full summary to this story:**

SEQUEL TO BATTERED AND CAPTURED! MAKE SURE TO HAVE READ BATTERED AND CAPTURED BEFORE READING THIS ONE! James has finally been taken into custody, Bella is missing and now, Edward and the Cullens are devastated. What will happen now? What will become of Bella? Edward and the rest of his family keep searching but with no answers. How will they get their daughter back? Will Bella be found and be brought back to her family where she belongs or will she stay hidden to keep her family safe? With the help of some new friends, Bella will pick the right path to bring her to her happiness. But will she make the right choice?

**So without any further notice, here is the preface to this story. Now, how about a little challenge for you guys? If you guys give me 10 reviews, I'll give you guys the first chapter. Does that sound reasonable? So, please READ AND REVIEW. **

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight. **

Preface

At this point in time, my mind began going over the many quotes I've heard or read over the past years. Some made my heart clench in pain, others made me realise my past, present and future mistakes and successes. But it also made me question my feelings for both myself and the one I loved…

_Where is the "good" in goodbye?_

As of now, I could not find the 'good' in a goodbye. It was simply painful, unnecessary and heartbreaking, especially if it is said to those that you love with all your heart. There was no good in saying your goodbye while betraying those who gave their heart and soul to you.

_A goodbye is never painful unless you're never going to say hello again._

Would I be saying hello again to the one that my heart belonged to? Could it be possible to have my true love's smile shine my way again, or would his love ever be transmitted in my direction once more? In a way, when tearing my family's heart apart, my goodbye had been said. And it had been a painful goodbye. I would never get to say hello again… to any of them.

_Every goodbye makes the hello closer. _

The quote above made me think of all the good that had happened before my last mishap with my father's friend. When exchanging my life for my sister's, I had said my goodbye to those who cared for me. But it had brought me closer to them. Now… that was all gone.

_Being strong sometimes means being able to let go._

But being strong didn't always help. Sometimes, being strong only made things worse…

_There are no goodbyes. Wherever we are, you'll always be in my heart._

Sometimes, that quote didn't go both ways. My love would always be in my heart, wherever we were, but would he feel the same way? Or better yet, would he _ever _feel that way again about me?

_Until this moment, I never understood how hard it was to lose something you never had._

Did I ever have him? Maybe not…

_We only part to meet again._

Maybe someday, we'll meet again… and things may go back to the way they were. Maybe…

Only time will tell, at least I'm hoping.

_Wherever we are, you'll always be in my heart._ At least in my eyes, you are.

**So what did you guys think? Does it sound like a good story? I tried to make it creative and somewhat mysterious. So please let me know what you thought in some REVIEWS.**

**Mortal-paralight20**

3


	2. The hospital

**Ok so 10 reviews was a little much. But I was surprised to get 8 reviews in total. So now, I just wrote the first chapter to this. It was a little difficult to write and especially to get a good and gripping beginning to this chapter but I hope that it's to you guys' satisfaction. Without further ado, please READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight. **

Chapter 1

The hospital

**Bella's Point of View**

Where am I…?

It was the only thought that ran into my mind as my eyes scanned the empty—but fully equipped—hospital room. Who had placed me here? What happened after the crash? Wasn't I supposed to be dead by this point in time? Being stabbed with a rusty knife and being in a car crash should have killed me… shouldn't it? Then why was I still alive? Did the Gods still want to punish me for my betrayals or was it some practical joke?

You see, in my book, traitors aren't supposed to go off with an 'easy pass'. In the end, they get punished for their actions. Shouldn't I be suffering the consequences of my actions or have I already suffered enough in that hell hole _he_ had placed me in a while ago?

If not then… why wasn't I dead? Why was I here?

Just as more questions began filling my thoughts, a doctor in a white lab coat entered the room, smiling at me as he shut the door quietly behind him. "Well, look who's finally awake." My body immediately tensed up as he began walking towards the foot of my hospital bed, looking down at his cupboard. What did he mean, finally awake? "How are you feeling?"

Ignoring his question, I gathered up my strength and looked the man deep in the eyes. "Where am I…?" I asked, trying to move a little but my back began to erupt in terrible pain, making me shut my eyes tight and my body to tense up even more.

I could feel hands being placed on my arms and slowly but softly pushing me back down to lie on the pillows, letting the pain diminish slowly but not completely. "Try not to move so much. You suffered from a terrible back wound and lost a lot of blood. Any sudden movement could open up your stitches," the doctor informed me, looking in my eyes worriedly but calmly. For some reason, he reminded me a lot of someone I knew… so kind and would help anyone in need and who would spend hours at the hospital, healing those who were hurt and sick. Just the thought of Carlisle hurt my heart.

But just as I was about to ask once more where I was, a woman with thick black hair and strikingly attractive facial features entered the room, looking over at me as she closed the door behind her. Her large—and some would say seductive—violet-blue eyes looked me over worriedly before glancing at the doctor. "How is she Dr. Styles?" the woman asked, walking over to the bed. Who was she? And what was she doing in my hospital room?

The doctor, who I now had a name to put with the face, looked from me to the woman and began explaining my situation. "Your niece has just woken up and seems… confused." My eyes bulged at the word choice. Wait a second, her _niece_?! I was _not_ her niece! What was going on around here?! "I believe it might be from her accident but I'd have to run some tests today to determine if she has any sudden loss of memory, which I believe to not be the case. In any case, during her slumber, her wound has closed nicely and the infection has nearly fully left her body. She should be fine to go back home in a day or so," the doctor explained, smiling as he explained this news to my apparent 'aunt'.

Looking over to the woman, she looked quite dominant and strong. Apart from her striking facial features, the way she moved and looked was one of the most shocking things about her. Her strong physique told me that this woman was not someone to mess with. She was muscular but not enough to be hideous. The muscles only made me aware of how strong she must be. Those violet-blue eyes with their incredibly long lashes struck me as unique and fierce, meaning that she was _definitely_ someone you don't want to piss off. But as she looked at me, those fierce eyes seemed to soften a little into a caring and worried tone… just like Esme's would.

Just thinking about the Cullens twisted my heart into a painful knot. James—my latest tormentor—threatened to hurt my family if I had not cooperated and done his horrible demands to hurt my family. He'd made me hurt one of my sisters, break up with the sweetest and most wonderful man in the entire world—uttering or even thinking his name hurt in the most horrendous ways possible—and hurt both my adoptive mother Esme, and my other sister Rosalie.

Even if they weren't my real family, they were an important part of my life… until it was all taken away from me and I was left with nothing.

As my eyes met hers, her eyes only told me one message: _later_. Maybe she would explain to me the reason why I was being called her _niece_ for crying out loud… The woman looked back at Dr. Styles and smiled softly. "Thank you very much for taking care of her. Would it be possible to let me know when I can take her home? My husband left to go take care of our restaurant and our daughter is supposed to come home soon for summer break and I'd rather we all be there when she gets home," the woman explained, making me wonder what her life was like. Of what I knew so far, she seemed to be a very strong and sophisticated woman who cared a lot about her family and owned a restaurant. By the way she talked; I could tell that she had an Irish or Scottish accent that suited her well. It didn't give me much information on her but it was a start.

"Of course; I'll go talk to some of the nurses now and see when we can release her. In the meantime, you're welcome to stay here and speak to her if you'd like," the doctor said, smiling down at me as he said this.

Looking back at the strong looking woman, she said: "That'd be very much appreciated," before Dr. Styles bowed formally and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. Now, it was just me and her… The woman walked towards my bed and my body began to tense for some reason. Who knows what this woman would do now that we were alone? But, just as my body began to tense, she raised her hands defensively and looked me with a soft gaze. "I'm not going to hurt you," she said, sitting down on the chair beside the foot of my bed.

Although that was a comforting comment, it didn't help me relax. "Who are you…? Are… Are you the one who brought me in…?" I asked, looking her over carefully and cautiously. Sadly, since the moment I had woken up to now, my body seemed to grow tired and my eyes began to drop slightly with fatigue.

"My name is Siobhan Connolly and yes, I am the one who brought you in." When she said her name, it sounded a lot like _Shi-vawn_, but that might be because of her Irish—by the last name, it made my doubt about her nationality go away—accent. "My husband and I found you on the side of the road and brought you to the hospital in Sequim just as we were on our way back home. You're safe now… Um…?"

I couldn't exactly tell her my real name. She may do some research and find out where I belong… or used to belong. So the only solution is to lie to her. But Siobhan looked so kind and caring that it seemed wrong to do so. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to say a half lie… "Marie…" It wasn't exactly a lie. My full name was Isabella Marie Swan. She didn't have to know that Marie was my middle name. And besides, I'd probably never see this woman again.

Siobhan nodded and smiled ever so slightly. "Then you should know that you're safe, Marie. I don't know what happened out in those woods and you can tell me in your own time but just know that you're here to heal and get back on your feet in no time, at least according to the nurses."

Nodding slowly, I scanned her over, wondering if I should let myself trust her or simply keep my guard up. For the moment, my heart was telling me to stay on my toes, especially after everything that has happened in the last few days. "How long have I been unconscious…?" I asked, laying down more on the pillows as slowly as possible. Some slight pain ran through my back but it was minimal, not like a few minutes ago.

"Nearly five days. The doctor said you lost quite a lot of blood and your infection made your condition worse. Dr. Styles says it's a miracle you are still alive right now." Siobhan looked me directly in the eyes and seemed to be contemplating something… but what? After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, the woman placed her hands together and scrutinized my expression. "Do you have somewhere to go to heal…?" Shaking my head, I knew that the minute that my wounds were healed, then someone would send me to an orphanage until my eighteenth birthday in four months. That was the price to pay for your mother being dead and your father being in jail for the rest of his life. "Would you feel more comfortable being in an actual home while you heal?"

Was she offering to bring me back to her house? But why would she do that? She didn't even know me. I was a complete stranger to her and this woman was inviting me to rest at her house… What was going on around here? The only ones who had offered me such generosity had been… I can't even think their names now without feeling such horrible pain in my heart.

"I… I can't accept that kind of generosity… I mean… You don't even know me…" Even with that said, Siobhan didn't seem reluctant to change her mind. How could she be so open-hearted about inviting a complete stranger? What if something went wrong? What if… what if this family was hurt like the Cullens were? I couldn't let that happen. Once was bad enough. Even though Siobhan's appearance told me not to mess with her, she still seemed sweet and caring that just the thought of hurting them made my stomach turn into knots. "I'll just—"

Siobhan raised her hand to silence me and said: "The doctor said that it would take a few days for your back to heal enough to walk properly without much pain. I don't believe that you would want to hurt anyone so I don't see the harm in letting you stay for a few days. Do you plan on hurting anyone?" When shaking my head truthfully, she nodded and smiled softly at me. "Then you can stay with us for a few days. Now, why don't you get some rest? You look tired and your body will take some time to heal."

There wasn't anything that I could say about that fact so I nodded and laid back against the pillows, letting my tired eyes close slowly while watching Siobhan lean back in her chair. Was it safe to be around her? Why did she want to invite me to stay with her so badly? Siobhan still hadn't told me why I'm being called her niece but for now, that was the least of my worries.

My only worry was to know if she could she be trusted or not… Could she?

**Siobhan's Point of View**

Looking at Marie sleep was a sad but warming sight. Just seeing this young woman lying on the ground, nearly dead, made me remember of a horrible event from my past. Back then, there had been nothing that could have been done about it. It'd happened so fast that the memory still haunts me from time to time. But now, to know that Marie was going to live and her wounds would heal up nicely, it warmed my heart.

Back then, I hadn't been able to help her. But now, I can help Marie. She looked so lost and broken hearted that offering her to stay at the house for a few days didn't seem harmful. I wanted to help her as much as possible, at least for _her_ sake… It was the least that could be done.

But in the back of my mind, something felt wrong. It felt as though Marie was holding out on something, something horrible. Could this girl be trusted? Did I choose wisely when inviting her to stay with us?

Just as I placed my chin on my knuckles, the doctor walked in and smiled down at me, looking at Marie sleeping. "Miss Connolly, I'm happy to tell you that your niece can go home tomorrow. Here are the discharge forms you need to sign and you'll be able to bring her home in the morning. Just make sure to get these medications for her and give her plenty of rest. She'll need it," the doctor explained while giving me the discharge papers and a prescription slip for Marie. Nodding to him, he looked over Marie's charts before walking out of the room, leaving me once more with my 'niece'.

Looking at Marie sleep, I tried to get the uneasy feeling out of me but it remained there. There was something wrong with all of this but I wasn't sure what it was… but it involved Marie.

She looked so much like Emily that I hoped that she wouldn't betray my trust… Let's hope everything plays out right.

**Ok so what did you guys think? Good? Bad? Well, I'm hoping that it was good enough for you guys so how about, to get the next chapter, I get 7 reviews? Is that a reasonable amount of reviews for the next chapter? So get me 7 reviews and you guys will get the second chapter. Now REVIEW please.**

**Mortal-paralight20**

7


	3. A nightmarish search

**Ok so I am thoroughly impressed that there are so many people who like this story. And I'm beyond happy to see that I got more reviews than what I had originally asked for (10 instead of simply 7). So here is the next chapter. It should be a little sad but also heartwarming. But a little warning to everyone: I will not be updating a chapter, even if it is finished, on Wednesday because I am going to go see Breaking Dawn Part 2 that night so that means that the chapter will probably come on Thursday. So now, without further ado, READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 2

A nightmarish search

**Edward's Point of View**

_BELLA!_

I woke up with a painful gasp that night, panting and shaking horribly in my bed. This had been happening for the past few nights, always waking up in a cold sweat and my heartbeat racing like a train going at full speed. When scanning my location, my eyes detected that I was in my room, everything around me still dark from the night. So it had all been a dream… or a nightmare, more like it.

Sighing, I ran my fingers through my sweaty hair, bowing my head sadly and bringing one knee to my chest, my bed sheets being the only barrier between my knee and my chest.

For the past few nights, the same nightmare has been creeping into my mind. Ever since a week ago, my nights have been filled with nightmares, enabling me to sleep for even a minute. It simply reminded me of our dire situation even more…

You see, some of you might not know the dilemma that has consumed our lives for the past week. About three weeks ago, a man came into my true love's life and began turning it into an absolute horror. He threatened her to hurt us, thus forcefully pushing her away from us. That was his plan all along; to get her alone so that he could take his prey for himself. Sadly, he succeeded in taking her.

We had a deadline of five days and the police kidnapped James but we never found her… The police haven't found my Bella.

I've tried to do some research on my own but have gotten nowhere. This feeling of helplessness… it's never left me since the moment we found Bella's bloody truck; the day Mom was admitted to the hospital and the day James had won for a short period of time. And with these nightmares that never want to go away, the feeling only gets worse.

My Bella was gone… My angel was nowhere to be found and people begin to wonder if she is dead or worse. But I _knew_ that she wasn't. If Bella would be dead, I would know it. My _heart_ would know it. Yes, it feels empty but it would feel emptier and heavier without her in this world.

Bella and I had a connection… something most people didn't understand.

Rubbing my tired eyes, I moved my head in the direction of my alarm clock and wasn't too surprised by the time. The clock read two forty-three in the morning. Again, it didn't surprise me. These days, the nightmares have startled me awake at different times of the morning, forcing me awake until my alarm clock goes off at seven for school. Considering I was too wired to sleep, I laid back in my bed, simply letting my eyes stay open and stare at the ceiling.

But this time, my mind kept recalling the nightmare that haunts me since the past week. When James had Bella, my nightmares were different, changing every night. But lately, knowing that Bella wasn't in our reach, the nightmares changed and were constant… always the same one.

_My nightmare usually starts off with me walking in the streets, flyers in hand. Since the moment the police told us that they hadn't found Bella, I'd been doing research on the Internet, calling friends and family to ask if they'd seen her, and—lately—been posting flyers around town, even going to Port Angeles to search there. As people passed me by, I began putting up a flyer on a street lamp with tape._

_When looking at the 'Have you seen this girl?' sign, my heart clenched even more. We'd placed the best picture of Bella that we could find, which turned out to be one that I took a few weeks ago right before our school production of _Romeo and Juliet_. Just as my eyes averted from the picture, the air around me began to feel silent and lonely. Looking around, there aren't any more people. _

_The streets are completely empty… all except for one person. _

_My Bella was standing in the middle of a street, her clothes ripped in various places and dirt covering some parts of her body. Blood from her side began dripping onto the cement floor but she simply stared at me with empty eyes. There were cuts and bruises on her face but otherwise, she seemed to be alive. _

_A smile crept onto my face when seeing her. My Bella was here. She was in arm's reach. I began running towards her but she seemed to be getting farther away from me with every step. "Bella!" I screamed, trying to get to her and running as fast as my body could run but she seemed to be too far away. Just as I began to once again pick up speed, someone stepped out from the side of a building. A man wore a dark grey sweater with the hood on his head, blocking his face from my vision. The only part of his face that could be seen was the cruel smile on his face. He walked up to my Bella and stood behind her, a hand on her shoulder. "Get away from her!" I yelled but he simply stood there, his hand still gripping my love's shoulder. Sadly, as the man stayed behind my angel, they both seemed to get farther and farther away from one another. _

_As my Bella looked at me, her skin where the man touched her began to turn to dust. Her eyes never looked away from mine and they seemed to hold even more pain as she disintegrated into ashes. What was going on?! "Bella!" My screams seemed to be insignificant in this situation as my love's form turned completely to dust, being picked up by the wind and being transported elsewhere. This wasn't happening… My love can't be gone! Looking at the man, I could easily identify him—even though his face was hidden from me—as James. He was the only one who could cause Bella so much pain and hide her away from us. We knew that he had somehow hidden her away from us but we had to find out how and where. _

_My legs slowed down to a jog before stopping completely, staring at my love's ashes being blown off in the wind. Falling to my knees, my heart seemed to break even more, knowing that my angel was somewhere out of my reach. The man's smile turned into a wicked grin, making my blood turn cold. _

_Sadly, my nightmare would always end with the man's voice ringing in my head, saying: "You'll never find her…" before darkness surrounded me, hiding the man and my Bella's ashes, and a gasp made me wake up in horror. _

I hoped that my dream wasn't real, that my Bella wasn't gone the way my dream made it seem. She was somewhere… somewhere out there. And I would find her with my last breath, that I swore the day that she was missing from her truck.

Getting out of bed at seven, my body felt beyond tired. Even though today was one of our days off during this exam period, I tried to get up as early as possible to study and search for my beloved. Today, my morning was going to be filled with putting up more flyers around Forks and Port Angeles while my afternoon was going to be filled with studying—or an attempt to study—for my exams.

Going downstairs, I was met with the sadly smiling face of my mother, Esme. During James' little game with Bella, my mother had been shot in the stomach, nearly bleeding to death on our floor. Luckily, the doctors were able to save her in time but she's been weak ever since. Just recently, she's been starting to feel better physically but not mentally. None of us have been feeling mentally up to date lately. Our emotions have been all over the place but some of us have been able to hide it pretty well.

"Good morning Edward," Mom said, cutting up some fruits for her fruit salad.

Walking over to the table, I mumbled a short: "Hi Mom…" and sat down at the kitchen table, grabbing a box of cereal from the table and some milk, pouring the contents in a bowl.

Mom walked over to the table and sat down on a chair opposite of mine. As she scrutinized my exhausted expression, a frown appeared on her face as Mom ran her fingers through her hair. "You didn't sleep again, did you?" Looking over to her, I shook my head and looked back down to my food, barely hungry enough to eat a bite of this cereal. "Was it the same dream…?" Mom asked, rubbing a thumb on the bags under my eyes.

Nodding slowly, I gripped my spoon and began moving the cereal around in the bowl. A few days ago, Mom began noticing that I wasn't getting any—or barely any—sleep these days. She wanted to know about my nightmares and, after a brief explanation; she tried to help me as much as possible. We tried a warm glass of milk, some relaxing music and even some tea to calm the nerves but nothing worked. The nightmares always came back.

Mom gripped my hand and my eyes went from my bowl of cereal to my mother's face as she smiled ever so softly at me. Even though she attempted to smile at me, you could tell that her sadness never left her. "We'll find her Edward. I know that it might be a stressful time for all of us but just remember that we will find her in the end. She'll be back where she belongs soon," Mom said, a real smile coming to her face this time. She truly believed that Bella was going to come home. I tried to feel that way as well but some doubt lurked in my mind…

But we _were_ going to find her. No matter what the cost.

After a few bites of my cereal—which had gone cold and soggy by the time I began eating—and a quick cold shower, I made my way to the door of the house, passing by my sisters and grabbing the flyers from the desk by the front door. Walking out of the house, I went towards my car and got in, driving towards Port Angeles. For two days, I'd been putting up flyers around Forks and now, my next goal was to hit Port Angeles and try my luck there. If there was no luck in Port Angeles, then Seattle was my next town and so on and so on…

After driving for about an hour, I finally arrived and parked in the nearest shopping mall I could find. Walking out with the flyers in hand, I made my way towards the mall to put some flyers there. While putting them on various walls, someone called my name. "Edward!" a woman shouted, making her way over to me. Angela, with her light brown hair streaked with honey colored highlights and oh so gentle brown eyes, walked towards me, a small smile on her face. As she saw my expressionless face, her features changed and her smile became sad. "Hi Edward, how are you today?"

"I've seen better days…" I said with a small shrug, lowering the flyers. "What about you?"

"I've been alright, thank you. How's the search going…?" she asked, fumbling a little with her hands. It had been a few days since we'd last seen Angela but she always asked about Bella. Angela really was a true friend… "Have you guys found anything yet?"

Shaking my head, I looked down at the flyers and shook them a little, looking back at her. "We haven't found anything but I'm now hitting Port Angeles and putting up some flyers. We're doing the best we can with little information…" I explained, looking in her eyes. They were always so gentle and so willing to help.

While we had been on James' trail, Angela had been a big help in finding out where my Bella was. Without her help, we would have never found out that a girl at our school, Tanya Denali, had hired James to 'take care' of Bella so that she could make her move on me. Without her, Bella would probably be dead by now… Just thinking about it sent a wave of sorrow in my heart and I tried to shake it off but some of the effect still lingered on my heart.

Angela surprised me by asking: "Do you need help putting those up? I have nothing else to do for the rest of the day."

It felt nice to have someone to help me. Today, my family was going to study all day and tomorrow, they would put up posters and ask around for anyone who would have seen Bella. And today, for some reason, I didn't want to be alone. Angela's presence was comforting and friendly, just the way that it should and always will be.

Nodding to her, I handed her half of the flyers and told her that we should both go in different directions, covering more grounds that way. Before leaving, we decided to come back to this spot in half an hour and go to coffee before asking around town if anyone had seen Bella. It sounded like a good idea to me and there seemed to be no harm in taking a small break. We couldn't speed things up; otherwise our search would be sloppy and inefficient.

While putting up flyers, a sudden memory came into my mind when looking down at Bella's smiling face on the 'have you seen this girl?' poster in my hand. While thinking of that memory, a small confident smile came to my face.

_It was a few days after I'd brought Bella back from the orphanage. Her leg was still healing and so she decided to take it easy today and simply lie on the couch with me, watching television. It was a Saturday and so our day had nothing planned. She'd placed her head on my lap and I began running her fingers through her hair as we watched an episode of _The Big Bang Theory_. _

_Just as a commercial passed on the TV, Bella looked up at me with a soft smile. When looking down at her, a smile was brought to my face as well by simply looking at her. But confusion settled in my eyes while watching her. "What?" I asked, my curiosity winning over. _

_A small chuckle ran through her throat and she looked up at me again. "Just a thought ran through my head and I wanted to smile up to you," Bella said, placing her hand on top of mine on her head. _

_Smiling wider as well, my curiosity simply kept elevating as her beautiful chocolate brown eyes kept glancing up at me. "What were you thinking about love?" I asked, running my fingers through her soft hair. This felt so right… _

_Bella bit her lip and looked up at the ceiling, her eyes looking pensive and hesitant. "I was thinking about that night, when you were searching for me and found me at the orphanage… I felt so happy to know that you looked for me. But there's just one question kept going around in my mind…" Bella explained, making me remember that long night very clearly. A small pang of sorrow made its way into my heart but when looking into my love's beautiful eyes, it went away quickly._

"_And what question might that be Bella?" _

_She locked her eyes with mine and smiled softly at me, warming my heart instantly. "You would always look for me to the ends of the earth, wouldn't you?" _

_Yes I would. And I will find you Bella; whatever it takes. _Thathad been my answer at the time. And my answer still lingered in my mind to this very moment while placing the flyer on a wall in the shopping center, making me even more determined than ever to find my true love.

_I'll find you Bella, mark my words…_

**So what did you all think? Good? Bad? Sappy? Depressing? Well, there will be happiness and more scenes to come in the next chapters. And just to answer any further questions, the next time that Bella and Edward will ACTUALLY see each other will be in about ten chapters, all depending on how this story goes. I have the entire plot line planned out so just be patient please. Now, how about we try and get maybe 8 reviews for this chapter? If there are more, then that's perfect because you guys will get the next chapter even faster. So now, REVIEW PLEASE.**

**Mortal-paralight20**

9


	4. Meeting Liam

**Alright so as I said, I couldn't post the chapter last night because I went to watch Breaking Dawn Part 2 (which is AMAZING by the way) and so I couldn't write the end of the chapter but here it is. I'm really tired at the moment so the ending might not make sense but we'll see what happens and what you all think of it. So now READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 3

Meeting Liam

**Bella's Point of View**

Today was the day that they were releasing me from this dreaded hospital. My opinion on hospitals was always negative, maybe because of the fact that I spent too much time in them as it was. Maybe this time, it bothered me a little too much because of the fact that Siobhan stayed in my room most of the time, trying to get to know more about me. But when she noticed that I wasn't going to say much, she changed the subject to talking about her family, which I didn't mind so much. It didn't scare me as much to know more about her.

In fact, it made me feel just a little safer about my situation.

Siobhan explained to me that she's originally from Dublin in Ireland and spent her entire life there, which is where she met Liam Connolly. They were in the same class in high school together and after about a year of dating, they decided to become a couple. But sadly, while she explained her past to me, her tone seemed to have become melancholic. There was obviously something that she was hiding from me but I wouldn't pester any further.

I was holding out a lot of information about myself from them so it was only fair that they were to hold information from me.

When they finished high school, Liam and Siobhan went to college in different fields—Siobhan in engineering while Liam went and studied the architecture—but ended up graduating together. Only when they finished college did they decide to get married.

The way she described it, it seemed like a dream come true. I wish that I could have that with—Sighing, I tried to get my mind off of that sudden thought. It was impossible to have that now. He could never love me, not after what happened. I doubt that any of them even cared what happened to me now… What Eleazar—the man who'd found and tried to help me in James' little strip club—had said, it was all a show.

When they finished university, Liam and Siobhan left Ireland to try and get a job in America. About two years after Liam and Siobhan got married; they conceived their first and only child, Maggie. Maggie was twenty years old, about two and some months older than myself, and was now studying to be a journalist at the University of Lancaster in England.

Apparently, Maggie was coming home from England today to spend her summer with her parents and so, Siobhan and Liam will bring me to their home in Seattle before leaving to go get her at the airport, which is why Liam was going to come this morning to get the both of us.

Siobhan was just helping me out of bed—my wound was giving me a lot of grief today and so it was a little hard to move around and breathe—just as a very tall brown haired man with a lean and imposing expression came into the room, looking over to his wife as she let me sit down on the bed with slight ease. From what I could tell of Siobhan's earlier description, the man who had just entered the room had to be Liam. Even though his hard-faced expression scared me ever so slightly, Siobhan reassured me that he had a kind but protective heart.

"Hello Siobhan," Liam said, closing the door behind him and walking over to his wife, placing a hand on her hip and kissing her lips softly. As he pulled back, a small smile made its way to his face as he looked in his wife's eyes. "Are we ready to go?"

Siobhan nodded and looked over to me. "Liam, this is Marie. She's the one that we found on the side of the road and she'll be staying with us until she's able to stand on her own two feet properly again," Siobhan introduced, smiling over to me as her husband placed an arm around his wife's waist possessively and protectively. I could tell that there was a strong connection between those two, even though his possessiveness seemed a little… extreme.

Liam, at first, didn't seem quite pleased with the idea of me coming with them. But, for the sake of his wife, he didn't say anything, which only made me feel even worse about letting me stay with them for a period of time.

Simply to please his wife, Liam nodded and opened the door for us as Siobhan placed an arm around my waist and helped me up. A wince escaped my lips unintentionally, which resulted in her apologizing as she helped me stay upright. She looked at her husband and said: "We'll let Marie get dressed first before we head out," before looking over to me and handing me some clothes that didn't look familiar at all. "These are my daughter's. You seem to be about the same size and we didn't want you to go back to our house with bloodstained clothes. I think you'd also be more comfortable in something fresh."

Smiling softly at her kindness, I took the clothes and slowly attempted to make my way towards the bathroom. But suddenly, something didn't feel right… like something was missing. Looking down at the clothes, I checked through them and found a shirt, pants, underwear, bra… everything that needed to be worn. But just as my gaze went downward, my eyes widened at the realization. Why hadn't I noticed it before?! It was the only part of my old life that remained with me and _I hadn't noticed before right now!_

Looking over to Siobhan, she seemed confused by my panicked look and frowned in worry. "What's the matter Marie?"

"My locket… It… It's not in here… Where is it…?" I asked, my voice catching a little at the end. If it was gone… my heart would surely break. It was my only reminder of him… of what we had. Siobhan smiled softly and fished it out of her purse, letting it dangle from its chain. An ever so slight smile came to my face when seeing it. It was still here… A piece of my old life was still existent. "You have it…"

Siobhan handed it to me and smiled as my fingers traced the beautiful pattern of the heart locket. Opening the locket, my eyes gazed intently at the heartbreaking picture. The picture of my love and I, simply holding each other in each other's arms and smiling… it broke my heart but warmed it with memories at the same time. On the inside of the locket were the words that I would never hear again: '_Together forever; with love, Edward_'. He'd never tell me how much he loved me or wanted me again. I broke my chances of ever having a relationship with him the minute that James came into our lives.

"They were about to take it off of you and put it away but I grabbed it and held it for you. I figured that you would have wanted to have it back," Siobhan explained with a soft smile as I clenched my hand around the item, putting it close to my heart.

Nodding slowly, I smiled for the first time in this hospital and said: "Thank you… You don't know how much this locket means to me…"

"I'm sure it's quite valuable. Now, go off and change before we leave. I'm sure you'll feel more comfortable in fresh clean clothes," Siobhan said before making my way towards the bathroom to get changed.

Changing into the clothes was a little challenging, considering that I had to try and place my head and arms through the holes of my shirt, which stretched my back and pulled at my wound. Keeping my whimpers in my throat, I finished putting on the clothes and looked myself in the mirror.

And what I found in the mirror shocked me to the core.

The girl looking back at me wasn't me… In fact, there didn't even seem to be any life in her. Those brown eyes were completely hollow and without any emotion behind them. It was as if the life had been sucked out of her. The scratches on her face seemed to be the only lively thing about her, even if they seemed gruesome. The locket, hanging on my chest where it should be, glimmered in the light of the hospital bathroom, its heart-shaped form feeling as if that held my actual heart.

Because I didn't feel like the heart in my chest was working.

It felt like there was nothing there anymore; no love or friendship, not even belonging. Being with Siobhan attempted to make me feel better but it wasn't working. I was just a nuisance to them, nothing more. Just like I was to _them_…

Sighing, I gathered my hospital bearings and walked out of the door, placing a fake smile on my face as Siobhan and Liam stood next to the door, waiting for me. Limping over to them slowly, Siobhan came and placed an arm around the middle of my back, helping me walk as we exited the hospital and walked towards a seemingly new black Jeep Wrangler. I could tell it was a Wrangler by the large white 'WRANGLER' sign on the front hood of the car.

Siobhan helped me into the car before she made her way to the passenger side and entered along with Liam, who, as soon as we were all seated and buckled up, drove away from the hospital.

With the rhythmic lull of the jeep, my eyelids began feeling heavy and the darkness took me once more for an uneasy sleep.

**Siobhan's Point of View**

As we sped towards our home in Seattle, Liam spoke up as the silence began to fill the area. "I don't think this is such a good idea Siobhan. We don't know this girl and you're letting her _stay_ with us without any reason?" A gasp went through my lips and I was about to look back to see if Marie had heard but Liam's voice made me look at him instead. "Don't worry; I can see her in my back mirror to see that she's fast asleep. Almost fell asleep the minute that we left the hospital."

Looking back at Marie this time, I saw that Liam was indeed right. Her head leaned against the window and her chest lifted up and down with each breath she took. Even though her breathing still looked a little laboured, Marie did look better than she did five days ago. The memory of finding Marie on that dark street made its way to my mind, and it only made my heart clench even more in sadness.

_Liam and I had just gone to see some of our friends in Forks and were on our way back to our house when suddenly, we saw a dark figure in the distance walking out of the forest. In fact, it seemed that the figure was doing more limping than walking. What was going on over there? Just as we approached the figure even more and our headlights shined over the figure, we saw that it was in fact a young woman, looking over at us with a peaceful look on her face. And as we drove towards her general direction, she suddenly fell forward, falling on her front in the middle of the road, making Liam swerve out of the way and a small shriek of surprise escape my lips. _

_Liam stopped the car and I immediately stepped out, running towards the girl's body. Had we accidentally hit her when swerving? We didn't feel anything when stopping the car so maybe not but I had to make sure. My heart began thumping hard in my chest when approaching this girl. It reminded me so much of my past… This couldn't happen. _

_When arriving by the girl's side, I fell to my knees and looked the girl over. It looked like she was on the verge of dying… Her skin was unbelievably pale in the light of our headlights. She was drenched with cuts and bruises but her shirt also seemed to be filled with blood, especially in her back. What had happened to her? Her lips were slightly parted and when placing my fingertips against her neck to check for a pulse, I found a weak heartbeat under her skin. _

_The only thing that seemed to be alive was the golden locket that fell to the floor, its golden chain hanging limply around her frail neck. _

_Liam walked out of the jeep as well and ran over to us, kneeling down as well to look down at the girl. Where had this girl come from and what happened to her? Looking over at Liam, fear and panic began filling my features. What were we to do? This girl needed medical attention if she was going to make it and we had to act quickly, otherwise this girl would die on this street. _

_Liam was the first to act and flipped the girl very carefully, letting us see her face more carefully and her ripped clothing. My heart clenched even more when looking at her that I had to look away at a certain point. This wasn't like before… This girl wasn't Emily. _

"_We'll bring her to the hospital. They'll be able to help her there. Can you grab her legs and we'll lift her in the car?" Liam asked, making me nod as I wrapped my fingers around the girl's ankles before we both lifted her up, bringing her to the jeep and laying her across the backseat. _

"_I'll stay with her in the back; make sure that she's still breathing while you drive," I admitted, running over to the back seat and getting in, making sure to be delicate while placing the girl's head on my lap. Liam hopped in the driver's seat and began driving like a madman, seeming nervous about the situation. _

_Stroking the girl's bloody hair, I tried to keep my calm. The way she looked, barely alive and barely breathing, it reminded me so much of _her_… But I had to pull myself together. If this girl were to die, at least we would know that we did everything that we could. _

_While driving, my heart kept thumping harder and harder in my chest, wondering if this girl would make it… _

Forcing myself to retract from my memory, I looked back over to my husband and could see the reason behind his logic. This girl was an absolute stranger that we nearly found dead on the street. We knew nothing of who Marie is, where she came from and what happened to her and so Liam was weary of bringing her along but honestly, it felt right to help her. Marie looked like she'd just suffered a long and hard journey in life and looked so lost… It wasn't just the fact that she looked a lot like someone from my past but also the fact that, looking in Marie's eyes, I felt my heart move towards her, wanting to be there for her.

I'd only felt that way for one person and, sadly, things had gone horribly wrong. I wanted to make it right now by helping Marie.

Liam must have noticed my silence because he looked me over for a second and took my hand with one of his, squeezing it softly but waking me from my thoughts. "I know you think that she looks like her but this Marie girl is not Emily. It's a different situation and you shouldn't feel like you have to help her. We should let the police or even the social workers handle this," my husband explained, still keeping his eyes on the road.

Sighing, I squeezed his hand back and looked at the road ahead of us and leaned back against the seat. "I know she's not but… It just feels right to do this. There's something strange about that girl and I'd like to give her a chance, even if it is only for a few days until she gets better. There's a reason we're the ones who found her and I'd like to follow my instinct until it proves me wrong. If it happens that she even comes close to hurting us, I'll kick her out. I promise," I said, looking over at Liam in hopes that he would agree.

Liam seemed to hesitate a lot on the option I was presenting him. You see, Liam is very protective of me and our daughter. He would do anything to try and protect us from anything and sadly, my husband thought that Marie was a threat. But she didn't look like it. Marie simply looked like a troubled soul. I knew that things would work out in the end… but maybe my positive thinking would backfire easily.

After a little hesitation, Liam sighed and squeezed my hand again. "I just hope you're right Siobhan…" he said while smiling at me for one second before looking back at the road.

Honestly, I had the same worries as Liam but I hoped that my high hopes for her weren't going to be demolished… I hoped I was right by doing this.

**Ok so what did you all think? Good? Bad? Could be better? Next it'll be Edward's POV so I hope that you guys will like that. For now, how about I give you guys the next chapter after 8 reviews? The 8 reviews thing seems to work for now so that seems to be something we'll go along for a little while. So now REVIEW PLEASE.**

**Mortal-paralight20**

9


	5. Speaking with the boy

**Ok so I am terribly sorry for the wait. I wanted to give people the chance to go see Breaking Dawn Part 2 and then I wrote the one shot 'Eternal loss' that seems to have been a big success (I recommend it for those who haven't read it yet) so yeah… then I got HUGE writer's block. I know that some people want a double to TRIPLE update today but I'm sorry, that won't happen. What I can give you guys though is (and I hope this makes up for the lack of update) a preview to the next chapter. I have to warn you though that it might not be EXACTLY what will be in the next chapter but it will be pretty damn close. Because of the lack of update in the few days, how about we put the bar up to 5 reviews for this chapter and I'll give the other one, seeing as I KNOW what I want to put it in? Is that good for you guys? Alright, without further ado, please READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 4

Speaking with the boy

**Edward's Point of View**

After a long day of putting up flyers and attempting to study, I tried once again to get a good night's rest to no avail. My mind and body would simply not let me rest. Once again, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't shake the nightmare out of my mind until my alarm woke me up bright and early. Rubbing my tired eyes, I walked over to the white board I'd placed on my wall last night and grabbed the black marker, placing another line upon the board.

Since last night, I'd been marking a line for every day that Bella has been gone. So far, there were seven marks on the board, indication that I'd been looking for my beloved for a week now with no luck whatsoever.

But even though it's been days that we have been looking without any success, we weren't going to give up.

My Bella was out there somewhere.

Leaving my room, this morning seemed to be a repeat of yesterday. Mom asked me about my night and still worried about the lack of sleep itself. After a little chat in the morning and getting myself dressed, I changed my tactics a little and decided to try and study as best as possible, since yesterday was a little letdown for my mother and father.

I'd been in the middle of studying when suddenly, our phone began ringing.

Mom went to pick it up and after the fourth ring, she brought the phone to her ear and began speaking with whoever was on the other side. "Hello? Oh, hello there Janet. How is everything going? Have you found anything?" My head suddenly snapped up to look my mother in the eyes. When hearing this, my heart suddenly picked up in hope. Had Janet finally found anything? I stood up while Mom continued to talk to Janet on the phone. Sadly, it wasn't what I wanted to hear. "Not yet, huh?" Mom looked towards me with an apologetic look before continuing her conversation. "You've interrogated Jacob? What did he say? So he didn't kill those innocent people after all… It was all James," my mother stated, seeing her relax a little against the kitchen counter. Mom remained silent for a little while until she smiled a little and finally spoke. "Alright, I'll let him know. Thank you for calling. We'll see you soon. Bye," she said before hanging up the phone and looking at me as Rosalie and Alice came down the stairs.

"Who was on the phone?" Alice asked, walking up to us and taking a seat on one of the high chairs by the counter while Rosalie sat at the kitchen table.

But I didn't let Mom explain. My curiosity was already surpassing every logical emotion in me and now, it felt as if it would burst. "What did she say?" I asked, taking a step towards Mom.

Mom looked over to my sisters and smiled ever so slightly. "That was Janet. She was keeping us up to date on what they've found." Mom looked back at me and continued her explanation. "Sadly, they haven't found anything that can help us find Bella. They've looked through various hospitals but no one seems to have treated a girl with that name. Some had some descriptions but otherwise, they haven't found her yet." My heart seemed to have sagged at that explanation. My poor Bella… There were still no signs of her anywhere. What if the police would never be able to find her? "But they've been asking Jacob, the boy who had helped Bella through her ordeal, some questions and they determined that he wasn't the one who had hurt Bella."

"There was no doubt that he was innocent but what else did they find?" Alice asked, placing her elbow on the counter and putting her hand, palm upwards, under her chin.

"They said that if we wanted to try and talk to Jacob, he was willing to stay at the police station a little while longer to try and ease our minds before they take him to Jacob's father's friend. They finally found someone who had a close connection with him and he won't be placed in an orphanage. And, another good news is that the police confirmed that he hadn't shot the gun back at the farm house and that it was in fact James who had killed those people," Mom explained, sitting down on one of the stools beside Alice.

"But, what are they gonna do about James? What is gonna happen to him?" I asked; still standing and feeling that there was no way that I could sit down now. There was too much anxiety and curiosity coursing through me while Mom kept explaining. "Are they at least gonna keep him in jail for the rest of his life? He deserves punishment for what he did!"

Mom gently took my hand and stroked the back of my hand with her thumb. "I know Edward. I believe that they'll put him away for a very long time but she didn't tell me anything about him. Maybe she was waiting to find out if Jacob was innocent or not. Normally, it shouldn't be long before he is sent away," Mom explained, making me let out a calming breath at this news. It felt good to know that this horrifying man would be out of everyone's lives for good now. Mom stood up and placed a soft hand on my arm. "Now, how about you take a break from studying and go see Jacob at the police station?"

A small smile came to my face as we all went to the car and drove off to the police station to confront our only solution in finding Bella.

When arriving there a few minutes later, Janet was waiting for us at the door. Mom had called her to let her know that we were coming and she would lead us to Jacob's cell. Janet greeted us with warm welcoming and brought us over to Jacob's cell. He was sitting on the makeshift bed, simply looking down at his lap. One arm was in a sling and his hands weren't cuffed, meaning that the police really did find him innocent. When Jacob heard us approach his cell, his head lifted and his brown eyes connected with mine.

The innocence was clearly there, shining through his eyes. Jacob looked young, which only brought out the innocence even more through his eyes. But there was a hint of sadness in them. For what reason they were in there, I didn't know.

Looking over at Janet, she nodded and motioned with her hand to enter as she opened the door to his cell. Mom smiled softly at me, rubbing my shoulder once before walking away with the police officer, leaving me alone with the young man in front of me.

Walking into the cell, I kept eye contact with the man in front of me. This boy couldn't be any older than seventeen and his eyes might have shown a lot of innocence but there were layers of maturity in them. But just the two of us in the room started to bring out an uncomfortable awkwardness between the two of us. Maybe it was placed there because we had both been with Bella in different ways.

Placing my hands in my pockets, I kept looking down at him, feeling that the awkwardness between us was elevating by the second. "So you're Jacob…" was my only reply for now as it was the only thing that popped into my head. When looking at him and seeing how well toned his muscles were, it made me wonder if Bella saw something in him while she was away… or worse.

Jacob closed his eyes, looked down a little and began chuckling. "Yeah, and you must be Edward," he said as his gaze turned to me again. Looking me up and down, a small but sad smile came to his face as he spoke once more. "I can see why Bella likes you so much."

"What do you mean?" I asked, furrowing my brows at his surprising and confusing statement. "She's talked about me?"

"Only once when James was away but I could tell that she really cares about you," Jacob explained, making my heart falter a bit at the small explanation of Bella but it hardened when James' name came up. He obviously felt the change in my face because he sighed and stood up, facing me. Jacob was a little taller than me but not enough to stay that there was a large height difference between the two of us. "Look, I know that you might be blaming me for not helping her more through this and I know that you might be pissed with me because she's missing but I really did try my hardest."

"I know, and I do appreciate everything you did for her. I can tell that you tried your best to protect her. I just wish that she was somewhere in our reach. It feels like looking for a needle in a haystack," I admitted, looking down at my feet for a few moments before looking back at him. Jacob nodded and looked down. As I spoke again, he lifted his head to listen to what was about to be said. "Since you were there, can you tell me what happened after the phone call?"

Jacob nodded, took a few steps back and started leaning against the wall, putting his good hand in his pocket as he looked down ever so slightly and seemed to be deep in thought. "That day that you called, I didn't tell Bella that I'd be calling you. I figured that she might have wanted to talk to you guys and be happy about it but she just seemed to hurt even more. I didn't know what you told her but she was crying. I'd seen her cry but not like that. But at one point, James came back and got really pissed off because he heard her talking on the phone. He overpowered me and tried to kill her there and then," Jacob explained, making my heart pound a little faster throughout his explanation.

"That's what we heard on the phone. I don't think Bella shut it off when James came in," I stated, leaning back against the bars while looking at Jacob.

He nodded slowly and continued the explanation. "When I was able to get back on my feet, I tried getting Bella out of there but he got a knife out and stabbed her in the back before we could get out of there. Later on, when I was cleaning the wound, I found out that it was mine. I always kept a blade under my bed in case James decided to attack me but I hadn't polished it in a while so there was rust on it. With the rust on the knife, Bella's wound got infected. And it looked pretty bad…

"The one thing that I can tell you is that your girlfriend is quite the fighter. She tried to act strong all the time, even though I knew that her injury was killing her. Nevertheless, she tried to keep her pain hidden. Sometimes I could see through her but other times, no. We found a barn that could save us from the rain but Bella was getting weaker quickly. I tried to go out and find some help but when I got to the farm house, there were lights on but it didn't look like anyone was home.

"I went in to try and find someone but when I got inside, I found two dead people. They'd been killed recently but I didn't know how long it had been. I went over to them and see what could have happened but James was already there. He told me that I never should have messed with him before he shot me in the arm and knocked me over the head. When I came to, the police was just, putting me in handcuffs and believing that I had killed them, seeing as James put the gun in my hand. I tried to get them to believe me but it was only when they did some tests to determine if I had shot a gun recently that they believed me and tried to find someone to take me in," Jacob finished, looking up at me apologetically. "I'm sorry but I didn't see James take her. I don't know what could have happened to her. I hope that she's alright but I'm not sure what will happen from now on."

Nodding slowly, I processed everything that Jacob just told me. I knew that Bella was strong willed but now… now my views on my Bella were even higher than before. It made me even more determined to bring her back home and have her back in my arms soon. She was fighting so hard just to stay alive but did Bella _want_ to come back to us? After everything that James made her do, my beloved probably felt abandoned and alone. Who knows where she is right now or what she's going through… I wished so badly to be there by her side but not everything can happen the way we want them to. Just thinking about Bella made me remember those horrible words that were said in the school parking lot before she went missing.

_My only regret was loving you Bella Swan._

Even to this day, the memory still makes me feel horrible and my heart clenches in absolute self hatred. Those were the last memories Bella ever had of the both of us before James took her away and turned her life into a living hell. If only things would have been different…

If only she could know that I love her and need her…

I'd simply have to prove this to her when bringing her back home.

Jacob was silent for quite a while until he spoke again. "I'm sure that you guys will find her—and I'd like to be kept up to date on what is happening—but I need to let you know of one important thing." That caught my attention. His tone seemed warning but also worried. What was he going to tell me? "Don't underestimate James. I'm serious. Bella is the first one that has _ever _escaped his hold and he doesn't like that… at all." I really didn't like where this was going and sadly, the rest only made me worry even more. "James _will_ try and break out and when he does, he's never gonna stop. James won't stop until he gets his prey… and kills it."

**Ok so that was the chapter. I'm going to give you guys the preview for the next chapter and I hope that it will be up to your standards. Then, when you've read the preview, I'll ask how you thought of the whole thing in total. It's a tiny review but I can tell you now that it might get you guys going. **

She began sorting through her purse, seeming to search for something. But what was it exactly? What was so important that she show me that gave her the need to look so forcefully through her very tiny purse?

Finally pulling it out, she placed a small white flyer on the table in front of me and I began opening it softly, starting to open my eyes even more when realizing what was in my hands. This couldn't be right… No, this had to be some sort of mistake.

"My son's been looking for days now for this girl. Have you by any chance seen her?"

**So what did you guys think? Good? Bad? Please let me know in some REVIEWS.**

**Mortal-paralight20**

8


	6. Lunch with an old friend

**Alright so here is the next chapter. Now, I know that you ALL want Bella and Edward back together so just because every single review I get asks for Bella and Edward to be together again (and I know that if I don't get them together soon, I'll lose readers) I'm cutting OUT a part of this story just so that you guys are happy. If this doesn't make you guys happy (and you had better be…), then too bad if I lose readers. So now, let's aim for 7 reviews alright? I'll update with 7 reviews, no lower. So now, READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 5

Lunch with an old friend

**Siobhan's Point of View**

A day has gone by since we brought Marie back to our home. Liam still was hesitant about this but he was going along with the idea, trusting me more than anything else. Considering that Maggie was coming home very soon and Liam had changed our guest bedroom—considering no one ever comes to visit us—into an office, we sadly had to place Marie in the attic, which she didn't seem to mind. After all, her only statement to that was: "I'm here only for a few days… No need to go out of your way for me…"

Even if she was only a guest, it didn't mean that she had to live in a damp and cold attic.

We'd gone to get Maggie at the airport and left Marie alone at the house, even against Liam's will. He still didn't trust her and didn't want a stranger staying alone and unguarded in his home. But when we came back home, it was Maggie who had been the most shocked to see Marie alone, even though we had already warned her about the new visitor. I can still remember their awkward meeting clearly…

And it had not gone very well; at all.

_Liam had parked the car and helped Maggie carry her bags in the house as we all chatted happily about Maggie's flight and her stay in England. We'd been laughing as Liam opened the door and we saw Marie where we had placed her on the couch before leaving. Maggie stopped at the doorframe when she saw Marie, who was now looking over at us with exhausted eyes. Ever since she came back from the hospital yesterday, Marie had looked worn out and—even—mentally exhausted. Why she was mentally exhausted was clearly a mystery but I didn't pry for now._

_I'd stepped to Maggie's side and looked at her before smiling over to Marie and then looking back at my daughter. "Maggie, this is Marie, the girl we talked to you about. Marie, this is our daughter Maggie," I introduced, seeing Marie stand up with difficulty and limp over to us, smiling painfully and extending her hand towards Maggie._

"_Nice to meet you… I'm Marie…" our guest introduced, seeming to hesitate on saying her name. I guess it was simply nerves in meeting other people. Marie did seem a little reserved and so it was no surprise that she was shy to meet or be around people._

_Maggie, simply trying to please us, shook Marie's hand and nodded to her, looking over at me for a split second out of the corner of her eye. Somehow, that simple second as all it took to easily see the unease in my daughter's eyes. This couldn't be good… Maggie looked back at our guest and said a simple: "Likewise…" but anyone could tell by Maggie's tone that she was unconvinced about this 'nice meeting'. When Maggie looked back at me, she placed her hands in her pockets and said: "Is it possible that I go unpack? The plane ride was a little long and I'd like to go and rest for a little while."_

_Nodding, I smiled over at Marie and placed a soft hand on her shoulder, starting to feel a little unease settle in me when noticing Maggie's uncomfortable stance. "Marie, why don't you go and rest a little? You seem a little worn out," I suggested, seeing her nod and I looked over to Maggie. "I'll help Marie upstairs and your father can help you unpack." _

_Maggie and Liam nodded and went to Maggie's room to help her unpack. I quickly—but carefully—helped Marie up the stairs and brought her over to the small single bed in the corner of the room. When looking around this dark room, there were small aspects that made me think that this room was quite dark. The only thing that lightened this was the white bed, nothing else to make it lively. Dark wooden boards surrounded the cold attic on the walls and one small circular window on the far wall by the bed brought in a little sunlight. Another very tiny aspect of light that accompanied the room was a small light hanging from the ceiling that barely worked and one small oak nightstand beside the bed. The room was small and seemed empty but with Marie there, it brought a little bit more life to the normally unused room. _

_Marie lied on the bed and thanked me for the help and I walked out of the room, wishing her a good rest before closing the wooden door and walking down the stairs to enter Maggie's room. When entering, Liam and Maggie were seemingly talking about something and stopped when seeing me. Leaning against the doorframe, I crossed my arms and gave a sly smile. "Well, don't stop just because I entered," I stated, seeing Liam sigh at my statement but smile slightly when I approached them._

"_Sorry sweetheart, we were just discussing," Liam explained, looking over at Maggie._

"_And let me take a wild guess at saying that ye were talking about Marie?" Liam nodded and a sigh escaped my lips, making Maggie turn a little around in exasperation and sit down on the rocking chair in the corner of her room. She always loved that chair since she was a child and wanted to keep it within her room since then. "She sounds like a lovely girl and I understand that bringing in a stranger like this a little unusual but—"_

"_Yes, it's in fact _quite _unusual Mum. I absolutely don't get why ye did it. I don't trust this girl. There's something not right about this girl and ye just let her barge in. She's not telling us the truth Mum, and Dad agrees with me. He's just as uncomfortable as I am!" Maggie argued, pointing over to Liam as she explained her story from time to time and crossing her arms at the end. Anyone could tell that she didn't approve of the situation. Normally, the entire family would be in agreement with Maggie but this time, I wanted to follow my instincts. They might lead to horrible trouble but… for Emily; I'd make an attempt at this. _

"_Yer mother has her reasons… even if they're not always for the right reasons," Liam stated, looking over at me, his eyes shining with trust but also hesitation. I knew that he meant well but he should have more faith in me sometimes. "We'll let her play the cards here. But if Marie does one wrong thing or if we find some kind of evidence on her, then we'll just send her to the police."_

_Sighing, I nodded and knew that it was the reasonable thing to do. My family trusted me on this situation and that was the only thing that mattered. _

_Now, all I hoped was that my instincts were right…_

Since then, Maggie hadn't made another comment on the Marie factor, although everyone could tell—even our guest—that she wanted to keep arguing about this. Liam and I hadn't told her about Emily and, in a way, she didn't need to know. It wasn't her problem to bear. It was mine. Yes, my past might influence my decisions but I could tell that, whatever happened to Marie, it was something that we could help her through.

The day after we brought Maggie back home from the airport, I received a call from an old friend, saying that she had to run some errands in Seattle and asked if we could have lunch. Liam decided to take care of the pub for that period of the day and let me go off to meet my friend. I was grateful to him for letting me do this and, when noon came, I drove the car to the local restaurant we were supposed to rendezvous at and saw her sitting at a small table, sipping her coffee and seeming deep in thought.

A smile lit up Charlotte's face as she saw me approach.

She stood up and wrapped a small arm around me as we said hello. Charlotte and I went to the same university and studied the same field. She was a good friend to have and still is to this day.

"Siobhan! It's been far too long," she greeted, smiling up at me as we both took our seats at the table. Looking her over, Charlotte hadn't changed since the last time we saw each other a few weeks ago. She was shorter than me by at least a foot but was the kindest friend I'd met in school—besides Liam. Charlotte was very petite but well maintained for her age. "How have you been?"

Nodding with a smile, I asked the waiter to bring over a coffee before answering her. "I'm very well, thank you. And you are right; it has been far too long. What about ye? How are things back in Forks?" I asked, crossing my arms on the table while leaning towards her a little, never taking that smile off of my face.

"I've been alright. Things in Forks are a little hectic at the moment but nothing that can't be solved over time." Charlotte had me a little worried at her explanation but, knowing her, she would be able to fix whatever problem was going on. Hopefully, things would get better soon. The waiter brought me my drink and asked for our order. Charlotte ordered a salad while I ordered a sandwich before the waiter left with a small smile and our conversation started once again. "How are Maggie and Liam? Has Maggie returned from England yet?"

Nodding slowly, I took a sip of my coffee and smiled over at her. "Yes, she came back just yesterday. Her flight was long so she took the rest of the afternoon yesterday to rest. Now, she's settling in her room and enjoying the comfort of her own home. And Liam's good as well. We've been taking care of the pub as much as we can and it's doing quite well. How are Peter and yer son? Is Jasper still doing well in school? And how's his girlfriend, Alice if I'm correct?"

Charlotte nodded and smiled slightly but sadly. There was obviously something wrong going on but she wouldn't talk about it just yet. Knowing her, she would tell me eventually. "Peter is very well. He just finished teaching his war history semester and is now grading papers before the summer break. And Jasper is studying for his exams as we speak. He feels very confident about them and is trying to spend as much time with Alice as possible. But…"

Charlotte sighed and made me even more worried. What was going on in Forks? Or more importantly, what was going on with her and her family? "What is it Charlotte? Ye know ye can tell me anything. I can try and help," I offered, smiling sympathetically at her as she looked at me and seemed to force a smile on her face.

"Things in Forks have been very strange and hectic. There was a kidnapping about two weeks ago and a girl is still missing. My son was a good friend of her and they've been looking ever since she went missing. Everyone's wondering if she is still alive and the police have been trying to locate her but with no luck at all." Charlotte reached for her bag and began sorting through her purse, seeming to search for something. But what was it exactly? What was so important that she show me that gave her the need to look so forcefully through her very tiny purse?

Finally pulling it out, she placed a small white flyer on the table in front of me and I began opening it softly, trying to hide the large confusion and shock that was probably starting to make its way to my face when realizing what was in my hands. This couldn't be right… No, this had to be some sort of mistake.

"My son's been looking for days now for this girl. Have you by any chance seen her?" Charlotte asked, her eyes piercing me with curiosity and hope.

This flyer had been crumpled a few times but it was still very readable. In large letters were the words '_Have you seen this girl?_' and a large picture of Marie was on the cover, her brown eyes shining with happiness and a happy smile lighting her face. But what shocked me the most was the information at the bottom of the paper. The flyer read: '_Isabella "Bella" Swan Cullen was taken on the third of June and has been missing ever since. If you have seen this girl, please contact either Edward Cullen or Carlisle Cullen as soon as possible._' There was also two phone numbers at the bottom of the paper but my eyes kept darting over to the picture of Marie, or apparently this girl named Bella in this case.

How could this be…? This couldn't be right. There had to be some mistake. But, in a way, everything began to make sense: Maggie's discomfort, Liam's territorial side coming out even more, everything. Charlotte scrutinized my expression and seemed to try and find some recognition in my eyes, which I hid very well. Marie—or Bella or whoever she was—was something that I had to deal with and figure out on my own…

"Have you by any chance seen her? We've tried Forks and Port Angeles but with no luck but maybe you might have seen her around Seattle? It's our next stop," Charlotte explained, making my eyes move from the flyer to her face. I folded the flyer and shook my head, unsure if my voice would work right now. My friend sighed and ran a finger through her short spiky white-blond hair. "I guess I'll let Jasper know to continue with the search."

Nodding slowly, I lifted the folded flyer to eye level and looked her over. "Do ye mind if I keep this with me, in case I see her around…?" Charlotte smiled sadly and nodded, letting me put the flyer in my purse just as the waiter came over with our lunches.

During the rest of our lunch, we tried making small talk but my mind was always elsewhere. And that elsewhere was the flyer Charlotte had just handed me. Marie was a missing girl. People were looking for her now and she was trying to hide in our home, maybe even in an attempt to hurt us. I didn't know who this girl was and now that I had this flyer in my possession, it only made me think that she was out to hurt my family, something that I would _never_ allow. Charlotte and I said our goodbyes and promised to see each other soon before driving our own separate ways.

Throughout the entire drive, my heart began tightening and fear for my family began to creep in. I'd left that girl alone with my family and God knows what she could have in the time I was gone. Speeding a little bit more to get back home faster, I arrived in only a few minutes, only to race out of my car and jog to the front door, opening it only to find Marie—or Bella—sitting on the couch as I'd left her before leaving.

She was laying there, her head resting against the back of the couch until she saw me enter the house. Her face seemed ever so slightly better than yesterday but still, there was an edge of exhaustion in her features. Her brown eyes were still empty but now, I knew why. A look of confusion spread across her face as Isabella saw my worried but furious look on my face.

"Hey Siobhan… How was your lunch date…?" she asked, sitting up painfully in the couch. Marching over to her, my hands turned into fists and this girl seemed to notice. "Is there something wrong…?"

"Who exactly are ye?"

**So what did you all think? I know that some of you might have been wondering if the son was Edward but now you know that it was Jasper. So now, here's a little sneak preview to the next chapter. Hopefully, it will be up to your standards. Remember that it might not be exactly like in the next chapter, since I haven't written it yet.**

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the police right now and get ye away from my family," Siobhan said, her eyes fixing me menacingly but also frightened because of the risk this gave for her family. I was the risk…

"Please… Please just let me explain…" I begged, standing against my will and causing large pain to go through my back. Siobhan kept staring me down, expecting me to try and give the explanation she desperately wanted. Suddenly, I heard people coming behind me and I didn't need to turn around to know that it was Liam and Maggie.

"Siobhan?" Liam asked, going to stand beside Siobhan while Maggie followed behind, scrutinizing me with a hateful glare. She'd never liked me since she arrived yesterday and now, Maggie had even more reason to want me out. "What seems to be the problem here?"

"I'm giving ye a minute to explain. Start now," Siobhan said, making my heart skip a beat. They'd kick me out after this… Then I'd be on my own, nowhere to go.

Alone once more… unless my explanation was good enough for her.

**Hopefully this snippet will get you excited for the next chapter. So without any further ado, REVIEW.**

**Mortal-paralight20**

9


	7. Revelations

**Alright so I see that some of you are really wondering what is going on in this chapter. So I'm not going to beat around the bush this time and I'm simply going to tell you to start reading. But first, I want to point out that the next chapter will only be given if I get 7 reviews, alright? So please READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 6

Revelations

**Bella's Point of View**

My eyes opened wide at her question. The only thought that ran through my mind was: _Oh no, she knows_, as her mysterious eyes never left mine. That hard look in her eyes that made her seem fierce and in charge made me even more frightened of her than I have been for the past three days. Her hands were balled into fists at her side and I could tell that if she didn't believe me, then they would send me to an orphanage or worse.

"Siobhan… I can explain everything…" I tried to say but she didn't seem convinced. In fact, there seemed to be hurt, confusion and slight anger in her eyes. I'd blown every chance of having this family like me for a few days now…

It felt like I destroyed everything that came close to me ever since James entered my life. And, in a way, it was true. This family didn't deserve to suffer on my behalf just because I didn't want to be alone again. I won't deny that I wanted to feel welcomed again and this family had done just that… and now that would end.

The look in Siobhan's eyes told me that she was finding it very hard to believe me. "Please Siobhan… I'm begging you… I can explain everything…" I pleaded, trying my hardest to make my voice sound convincing and truthful. Maybe if I explained to them the situation, then things might be different in the end…

And apparently not… "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the police right now and get ye away from my family," Siobhan said, her eyes fixing me menacingly but also frightened because of the risk this gave for her family. I was the risk…

"Please… Please just let me explain…" I begged, standing against my will and causing large pain to go through my back. Siobhan kept staring me down, expecting me to try and give the explanation she desperately wanted. Suddenly, I heard people coming behind me and I didn't need to turn around to know that it was Liam and Maggie.

"Siobhan?" Liam asked, going to stand beside Siobhan while Maggie followed behind, scrutinizing me with a hateful glare. She'd never liked me since she arrived yesterday and now, Maggie had even more reason to want me out. "What seems to be the problem here?"

Maggie glared daggers at me and crossed her arms as she gazed up at me. "I knew it…" she stated, a little gloat in her voice. Obviously, Maggie had a feeling that I was a large threat since she knew me.

"I'm giving ye a minute to explain. Start now," Siobhan said, making my heart skip a beat. They'd kick me out after this… Then I'd be on my own, nowhere to go.

Alone once more, unless my explanation was good enough for them…

Sighing, I looked up at them and hoped with all of my heart that they would believe me. "Where do you want me to start...?" I asked; nothing to hide now.

Siobhan fished something out of her purse and handed me a piece of paper. "Start with that," she said coldly before I unfolded the paper to reveal a flyer with a picture of me on it. I remembered that picture... Edward had taken it while I was at the house with him a few months ago. But why were there flyers around here? Edward and Carlisle's names were on the flyer, saying to contact them if anyone found this missing girl. But why did they put this up...? It had to be some sort of joke. They didn't care about me anymore. I didn't belong in that family anymore. They'd said so themselves… or some of them anyways. "Yer name isn't Marie, is it?"

Looking up at them, Liam looked like he was waiting for that opportune moment to throw me out; Maggie seemed pleased with my downfall; and Siobhan seemed absolutely torn. She looked caring and wanted to trust me but I had broken that trust now. It was now or never to try and make emends... Sighing again, I started telling them the truth. "Not entirely... My full name is Isabella Marie Swan... It wasn't exactly a lie when I said that my name was Marie but it was simply a deviation from the truth... I don't know why there are these posters around but I am this missing girl in the flyer..."

And with that, I explained them everything; starting with Charlie, following by the Cullens finding me, almost dying at Charlie's hands, the Cullens taking me in, the events with James and my betrayal to the Cullens... even the events at the nightclub. The Connollys all sat down during my explanation and listened intently at my story. From time to time, Siobhan would look at Maggie and her daughter would nod before both of them would look back at me and redo the same motion minutes later.

When I was done with my story, I looked at each of them for a few seconds, trying to determine my fate through their eyes. Siobhan seemed a little more at ease but also heartbroken by what she has just heard. I didn't need their pity and that was the last thing I was asking from anyone. Liam didn't seem on his guard as much as before. I could tell that he was very territorial but now, as he knew that the threat wasn't as large as he thought it might have been, he could relax a little. And Maggie... well, that was a little harder to tell. She seemed less angry than before and looked relieved now. I don't know why Siobhan and Maggie kept looking at each other during the story but they seemed more open to my being here, now that they knew the whole truth.

But there was still a hint of doubt in their eyes.

"So that's why Charlotte gave me that flyer… Since nobody heard from ye, her son put up these flyers and tried to find ye," Siobhan said, leaning back against the side of the chair.

Charlotte… Why did that name seem familiar? Then, it suddenly hit me and I looked down with a slight chuckle while closing my eyes. "Jasper's mother…" I stated, lifting my head to look slightly up at the ceiling before looking back at them. "Should have known… He's quite close to the Cullens…" I looked down at my lap and tried to keep my voice from wavering at the mention of the Cullens. I had tried to keep a straight voice and keep the sadness out of my voice when explaining my story but that was a very difficult task to undertake. And now, I knew that this was my moment that they would kick me out… Better go out with some reassurance for them. "I know that it's a lot to accept... and I wouldn't expect you to accept it at all if that were your choice... but what I just told you is the complete and utter truth... I don't know what happened to James but, being away from Forks should have gotten him off my trail... You won't be in any harm once I leave... Even now, I don't believe that you're in danger..." I said; looking up at them and seeing them look at one another, having a silent conversation.

Siobhan looked back at me and had a pensive look on her face. "And where would ye go if you left now?" she asked, making me rethink this completely. There was no way that I could stay here now, not when there could be a possible threat to their lives. I'd already meddled with the Cullens' lives... I couldn't do the same thing to them now. But where would I go? Was the only option for me to simply wander the streets with a horrible wound that hasn't closed exactly, no money, no clothes, no… no nothing?

Shrugging, I looked up at her and kept my face serene and clear of fear. "Wander around... trying to get him away from you all and the Cullens..." I stated, saying only part of the truth. Without money and/or clothes, I'd be on the streets and probably dying from the cold, no food and from my wound.

Liam smiled a little at me and leaned back in his chair, leaning a little into Siobhan's side, who sat on the arm of the chair, watching me. "We Irish people can take care of ourselves, lass," he stated, a little grin back on his face. "No one can fight like the Irish can."

Siobhan chuckled, placed her hand on her husband's shoulder and massaged it slightly as she looked me in the eyes for a few seconds. She looked into the eyes of every single member of her family before meeting my gaze once again. "I believe that my husband is correct on this part. Ye don't have to act through this alone like before. If ye want to stay here, then ye are most welcomed here." My eyes opened wide at this statement and I couldn't hide my shock and happiness. How had they decided to simply let me stay? Weren't they going to send me away? "But…" Oh no… There was the condition that might break me, "ye need to see if your family still want you. If they went through all the wee little troubles of putting up flyers and whatnot, then obviously they are interested in getting ye back."

I nodded, not exactly sure if my heart was saying the same thing as my head. They wanted me to try and see if the Cullens would accept me but sadly, I didn't think that they would. I'm not family to some of them anymore… Some had already admitted that to me; and some said even worse things. I destroyed my chances. But it was better to please Siobhan and have a small slimmer of a chance to try and stay with them than to be alone on the streets to die.

Even though my thoughts told me that I had ruined every chance of being a Cullen again, my heart was begging that Edward and the others would take me back… or at least give me a second chance.

But not all of our wishes can come true when you want them to.

**Edward's Point of View**

"Just try and let me do the talking, alright Edward?" Janet said, placing a soft hand on my arm.

Looking over to her, I tried to stay calm but being in this prison made me feel nervous but also angry beyond belief. In a matter of minutes, the police would be bringing in the man who had given my beloved so much grief and Janet would be asking him questions to get information out of him. I would look James in the eye and finally be able to look my Bella's tormentor in the eye. But Janet's warnings still played in my mind. Apparently, James would try and play with my emotions, knowing that I'm very attached to Bella. He would use words that will make me want to kill him—don't get me wrong, I already have that feeling inside of me—but it needed to be contained for today.

I had to do it for Bella and only for Bella.

Nodding slowly, I saw two police officers walking towards us with a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit, followed by two more guards. He had one arm lying at his side while the other was in a sling. There were many scratches and bruises on his face, probably from the crash and his hands and ankles were cuffed so there was a small chance that he would be escaping, which reassured me ever so slightly. Dad stood behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder to keep me from pouncing on this man.

I could tell that he had worked out recently or in the past by his muscles but otherwise, there was nothing special about him; just an average man in front of us, walking with a small smirk on his face. James had light brown hair that was cropped short, making his burgundy coloured eyes seem darker—but that could be because of all of the evil acts that he seemed to have enjoyed doing. With an orange jumpsuit, he didn't look as frightening but that didn't seem to bother him. As his eyes connected with me, his cruel grin seemed to widen as the guards brought him to our table, attaching his handcuffs to the metal table and the floor before taking a few steps back once making sure that James was secured to the table and the floor.

Janet entwined her fingers together and placed her hands in front of her on the table, looking over at James. Dad kept his hand on my shoulder, trying to keep me stable but as I kept staring at this man, my anger only increased. All of that mischief in his eyes, Bella had to look at that for nearly five days… He wanted to hurt her so badly and now, apparently, James was going to try and escape just to get to Bella. Janet was aware of this and had warned the guards in this prison but since they knew that James had been in the Special Forces, they were a little scared that he would attempt to escape and actually succeed.

"Janet, I presume. It's finally nice to see the woman who has failed in catching the missing girl in time," James mocked, smiling cruelly at her before he met my gaze once more and smirked even more. "And the infamous Edward Cullen… I got to say, I can definitely see what my sweet Bella sees in you. Too bad that she turned into such a heartbreaker, isn't it?"

My hands clenched into fists and my body began shaking under my father's hand. James was making it extremely hard to stay calm around him… And how dare he say all of those things about Bella _and_ claim her as his?! Dad gripped my shoulder even more and tried to keep a calm presence around me but it was extremely difficult to refrain myself from placing my hands around James' throat.

Janet kept to her word and began talking, trying to forget James' antics. "We know that you were the last to be with Miss Swan and her blood was found with you when the police captured you. Now, we need—"

"Oh, I know what you need. You need me to tell you where I'm 'keeping her';" James began; putting air quotes around the words 'keeping her', which only made me even angrier, "but sadly, I can't tell you something that I don't know. And even if I did, it amazes me that you would even think that I would give you such a priceless information for nothing at all in return. Bella's quite the prize, and after all of that trouble of taking her, it's not in my nature to simply… hand her over. I think that I will keep her… if I had her."

My anger seemed to seep out as he spoke so possessively of my beloved and sadly, when speaking, my words were now ice cold. "Where did you put her, you bastard? We know you have her."

Dad gripped my shoulder tighter and sadly, Janet looked at me with a look that told me that she should keep talking. But James' grin widened as he finally saw what he wanted to see today: my outbreak at his words. "It's quite a shame that Bella broke your heart… but I'll admit that it was quite the show. It's astonishing how one threat can go so far… Just one threat and a few actions here and there made her break you all into tiny little pieces. When I find her, she's going to be an absolute _thrill_ to take…" James could see in my eyes that every word he said was not only a knife to the heart but also a smack of determination to find her and keep her away from this psychopath. A small chuckle ran through James' throat as he kept eyeing me, wondering when my next outbreak would appear. "I bet that she hasn't even had her fun with you first…"

"James," Janet warned but it didn't seem to faze James, seeing as he simply kept looking me deep in the eyes and smirked even more.

"It's quite a shame, that I'll be the one to take away what little she can give you, or _gave_ you in this context. I do have to say, beautiful finish Edward. I tried so hard to break her with all of the tasks but saying that you regret loving her; that made taking her all the simpler. She was putty in my hands at that moment, ready to surrender to me, knowing that dear sweet Bella had broken every possibility of being a part of something," James taunted, making me grip the table even harder and forcing my knuckles to turn as white as a sheet.

"That's enough," Janet tried again, this time with more dept in her voice, but again, there were no changes in James' motive.

"You want to know what I intend to do with her once she's mine again? Because she tried to leave and kill me, I'm going to take things very slowly and excruciating for her, to the point where she will wish that she was never born. I'll make her scream all of your names, forcing her to experience all of the pain that she caused you while I ravish her in the cruelest ways that Bella or any of you can even imagine. And when I'll be through with that, I'll wreck that plain and disgusting skin of hers so horribly that you won't be able to tell who she is when I'll be done," James explained, turning my blood to ice as the guards had enough of hearing him and forcefully wrenched him out of his chair, starting to drag him away from us. But James wasn't done… not by a long shot. "And when I'm about to plunge a knife so deep in her chest, I'll ask her if she wants to say a few words for you but we all know she won't say anything. She'll die knowing that you all hate her!" James tried to keep taunting me but the guards had already dragged him away from us.

My skin was now ice cold after hearing that horrifying description. Did James really know where my beloved was? Was he simply lying to us or telling the truth when he said that he didn't know where to find her? But either way, we would be the ones to bring my Bella home and she would _not_ suffer that punishment. She'd never have to face or even think about that kind of punishment if and when I'd find her.

But as James' maniacal laugh filled the prison, my heart kept shattering and began filling with doubt. Would we find her first…?

**So what did you think? Good? Bad? Well, so that you will want to know what happens next, here's a very tiny snippet just to get you guys going. Here's hoping that you'll like the snippet as well.**

The idea of spying felt horribly wrong but knocking on the door and wondering in person if they would take me back sounded even worse. It broke my heart to even think about facing them now but, to convey to Siobhan's wishes, I snuck up to the closest tree there was to the house and peered around it, trying not to be seen but also to see them clearly.

And what I saw shocked me to my very core. To say that my heart didn't break at that moment would be a terrible lie… because it nearly shattered into pieces.

**So, as said, that was a very tiny snippet but enough to get you all going I hope. So please, REVIEW your opinions on this chapter please.**

**Mortal-paralight20**

10


	8. The spying game

**Ok so I know that this chapter is going to be short but I've been working on this chapter for a month and honestly, this was the best that I could come up with. I kept getting ideas and then things didn't follow through and I stopped counting the amounts of times that I deleted most of what I wrote. And this month has been really hard. So if any of you are hating the fact that this chapter is late and would have wanted something bigger, then I'm sorry but you can hate it all you want. You can hate me for all I care. I've had a really hard time this last month and it has affected my writing. So for those who don't hate me or this story because of this, I want 5 reviews for the next update. So now READ AND REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 7

The spying game

**Bella's Point of View**

Siobhan and Liam had decided to drive me to Forks in hopes that I would see the Cullens and talk to them. But after much consideration and conversation with them, they allowed me to simply stand by and spy on the Cullens, even though Siobhan was against the idea. And frankly, so was I. But it was better to spy than to infiltrate their lives once more when they didn't want me.

Because, in the end, who would want a traitor such as myself?

While Liam drove to the Cullens' residence on the outskirts of Forks, my mind wandered to what I could possibly find there. Would they be having a fabulous time now that I was out of their lives or would there be sadness filling their lives? The latter seemed a little impossible in my opinion but things could change easily when arriving there. I tried to keep my excitement out of my face when thinking about Edward. But my excitement was soon destroyed when remembering the last time we saw each other face to face. It had ended in disaster and everything had fallen apart last time…

This time, I didn't think that it would get any better, seeing as we wouldn't be literally talking or even seeing one another.

Anxiety kept creeping through me as the sky turned darker and the sign 'Welcome to Forks' passed by us. What would I expect when getting to Forks? What if I couldn't follow through with this and hope Siobhan and Liam would keep me? Or maybe I'd see the Cullens and come marching at their door, pleading them to take me back. But that couldn't and wouldn't happen.

After a long moment of contemplating my thoughts and plans, Liam stopped the car in front of a long driveway by a small mailbox on the side of the road reading '_Cullens_'. It tore my heart to be so close yet so far to them, after all of this time, but I pushed it aside and began undoing my seatbelt. It was then that Siobhan spoke to me for the first time during this entire trip. "Try watching them from the sidelines and ye can determine or not if ye want to ask them to take ye back. We said that ye were welcome to stay with us but ye must see if yer family is willing to accept ye again," she said, turning around in her seat during the middle of her speech to look me in the eyes. She must have seen my hesitant gaze because she smiled and tried to sound reassuring. "Everything will be just fine, ye'll see."

Nodding unsurely, I stepped out of the car and walked into the dead of the night, wondering what would happen next.

Walking through the forest was tiring. It seemed to go on forever as the darkness surrounded me and my back flared with slight pain. Sadly, when nearly arriving at the lit house, my fear began escalating. Would I see him…? How would he look like? Had he found someone better for him since our horrible break up in the parking lot? In a way, I hoped that he was still single but, after all of this time apart, my hopes crumbled to dust.

My eyes scanned the darkness and found the Cullen house in the distance. A small smile made its way across my lips as the house brought many fond memories of me and Edward to my mind, making me advance even more towards it. It was close to dinner time for the Cullens and it was no shock to me, seeing Esme placing the plates on the table while Edward and the others around the living room, seeming to study for the upcoming exams. Seeing as the Cullen house was surrounded by windows, it was easier for me to hide behind a nearby tree and watch them.

Everything seemed normal... But, as the rain began to pour, my heart broke into thousands of pieces.

Everyone began laughing, letting me see Angela sitting with them, laughing as well. But she seemed so at ease with them, sitting beside Edward and seeming like she belonged there… Jasper wrapped an arm around Alice and seemed perfectly happy being next to her; same as Emmett with Rosalie. But Edward… Edward seemed happier in that moment with Angela. As the rain began to fall even harder, Edward and the others were called over for dinner. Carlisle came down the stairs and smiled over at his wife, kissing her on the cheek before taking a seat with the rest of his family; even Angela sat down beside Edward and began eating with the rest of the Cullens.

I didn't realize that my feet began walking out of my hiding until Edward turned his head to watch Angela but accidentally met my heartbroken eyes. In that instant, there didn't seem to be much realization but I hid just in time to have only been a mirage to him. I clutched the tree behind me and dug my fingers into the rough bark as the tears began falling down my face, mixing with the rain that kept pouring onto my already drenched body.

My tears were not only from the excruciating pain in my back but also from what my eyes had just seen.

They _were_ happier without me in their lives…

The Cullens were smiling, laughing… things that they hadn't done in so long while I was in their lives. Even Edward seemed to be looking a little better. There was still a hint of pain and sorrow within his features but otherwise, it seemed as though he was feeling much better without me in his life, in all of their lives…

Looking back at the Cullens, knowing that they had gone back to eating, I knew that they didn't need or want me anymore. I had been a small bump in the road of their lives and now, they could go on happily without me.

With that last image of them laughing and of my Edward smiling, I made my way back into the darkness, the tears unable to stop falling.

I walked for what seemed like hours, the rain pouring down on me and my tears mixing with the rain, until a small light appeared in front of me, followed by a woman calling out my name. It was Siobhan, walking over to me with an umbrella in one hand and a flashlight in the other. "Bella; is everything—" The minute she saw me, drenched and expression lifeless, Siobhan became worried. She placed her umbrella on top of both of us so the rain wouldn't keep falling on me and placed her free arm around my shoulders. "Come on darlin', let's get ye back to the car. Ye can explain to us what happened when ye feel it's the best time," she explained, walking us towards the car and lighting the path in front of us with her flashlight.

When arriving in front of the car, she opened the door for me and placed her coat around my shoulders, helping me inside. Liam looked back, seemingly worried about my expression, and decided to remain silent, not sure how to ask about this situation. But then, as the silence grew uncomfortable and Liam began driving, the truth spilled out of my mouth faster than I could have wanted it to.

"They moved on… They were back to being a regular family, laughing and enjoying their life without me…"

I felt the tears go down my face once more as I turned my head towards the window, watching the Cullen mailbox pass by us and the darkness swallowing the car.

The silence fell even more as the car began driving away from my home. Then, just as I began wiping the tears away from my cheeks and began feeling an searing pain shoot thought my back, Siobhan spoke up, not exactly making me feel better but warming my heart a little.

"Don't worry; ye can stay with us as long as you need. Ye can stay in the attic, considering we don't have an actual spare bedroom available but we'll try and make it as homey as possible," she explained, trying to make me feel better about this situation.

But at the moment, nothing could make me feel better about this. There was a small glimmer of hope in me that the Cullens could take me back and things could go back to the way they were. But now, that was all gone.

Liam drove back towards Seattle as my home vanished along with my last spark of hope.

**Edward's Point of View**

We'd just sat down at the dinner table after many hours of studying, all of us smiling and eating happily but this felt wrong. In my heart, it wasn't complete without Bella. It was true that Angela was a sweet and made the room feel happier but she was no Bella. No one could replace my beloved.

During our supper, everyone had noticed that I wasn't in the best of moods. In fact, I hadn't been in the best of mood for weeks now, ever since Bella had been forcefully taken from our lives. Everyone understood this but I didn't want the rest of my family to be burdened by my sadness, and so I tried to hide it with some hope of success.

Sadly, Angela saw right through me.

While we ate the wonderful supper Mom prepared for us, Angela placed her hand on my arm and it made me turn my head towards her, looking into her light brown eyes. She smiled ever so softly at me and squeezed my arm softly. "You're gonna find her Edward. I know that now is one of the hardest times of all of your lives but I know that she'll be found and Bella will be back where she belongs soon. I don't expect this speech to make you feel better immediately but things _will_ get better. I know that it will," she explained, smiling as she looked at the others, who were also nodding solemnly and trying to stay hopeful. But sadly, we were all thinking the same thing.

There was a chance that Bella would never come back to us.

But Angela's words did affect me a little. I had faith that Bella would be found and that she would be back in my arms, her beautiful laugh surrounding me and her lips against mine as we used to. As soon as those thoughts came into my mind, a distant but wonderful memory came into my mind and a small smile came onto my face.

_It had been a few weeks since the Charlie incident and I'd just walked in from running to the market to see Bella in the kitchen, making herself a small lunch on the stove. Smiling, knowing that she must not be paying attention to her surroundings, I walked up to her as quietly as possible and wrapped my arms around her waist, placing my chin on her shoulder. "Hey there beautiful," I whispered in her ear, kissing her jaw line as she finished stirring the pasta she was cooking._

_Bella smiled that wonderful and bright smile of hers as she turned her head and kisses my lips softly, the slight touch sending an electric current through me. "Hey yourself, did you get everything your mom wanted?" she asked in that gorgeous and wonderful voice of hers. _

_Nodding, I showed her the bags and turned her around, turning off the stove and placing my hands on the small of her back, bringing her closer to me. "And now, when you're done eating, we have the entire afternoon to ourselves."_

_She raised an eyebrow and looked me in the eyes, wrapping her arms around my neck as I brought her even closer to my body. "I like the sound of that… But don't forget that we have a test Monday. We need to study as well," Bella informed me, making me groan and making her laugh shortly after. Ah, how that wonderful sound made my heart flutter with happiness. To my ears, it was the best sound in the world and nothing could compare to it. "Tell you what, we'll study hard and, for our efforts, we'll take a while for ourselves and go back to a little studying afterwards. Does that sound fair?" she asked, kissing my lips softly after her suggestion._

_A soft smile came to my face as I kissed her back, unable to get enough of her proximity and that wonderful freesia scent that always clung around her. "Sounds like a great idea. But first, eat. Then we'll go and study," I explained, kissing her softly on the lips once more and letting her get her food ready. _

_Even though that afternoon had been mostly focused on studying, the moments when Bella and I were together, holding each other and kissing, were some of the happiest that I've ever spent with her. _

Once the memory ended, my eyesight detected something in the distance. From the corner of my eye, something had moved outside of the house in the pouring rain. In the distance, my eyes detected Bella standing looking at us all, plain and obvious hurt shining in her wonderful orbs. Looking back at Angela, the sudden realization of what I'd seen made my eyes open wide in shock.

Wait, Bella?!

Looking back in the direction of the forest, I stood up and went to the window, placing both of my hands on the glass in shock. But, to no surprise, my beloved was no longer there. She'd been standing in plain sight, her body soaked with the rain, and yet, now she was just… gone. Just like in my dreams… She'd just disappeared in the wind, slipping right out of my fingers once again.

Mom was the first to wake me from my shock. "Edward? What is it? What are you trying to see?" she asked, sounding worried.

But my eyes stayed locked on the exact position that I'd seen my love. It must have been a trick of the mind seeing her, considering that I'd been thinking about her moments before seeing her outside. Sadly, my only response to the people in the room was: "Nothing… Guess I'm just seeing things," before returning to my meal, my mind elsewhere.

I'd just told them that I had been seeing things… but had I? Had it simply been my imagination or had Bella really been there?

**Ok so what did you all think? I promise to get the next chapter in soon but please give me those reviews and I'll give you guys the new chapter soon. So please REVIEW!**

**Mortal-paralight20**

8


	9. Emily

**Here's the new chapter. Took a while but here it is. You'll be happy to know that Dragongirl323 is now the beta for this story, which may even make you guys want to read it because the chapters, from now on, will be better in many aspects than the previous stories/chapters. So read and review, if you even want to.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

Chapter 8

Emily

**Siobhan's Point of View**

My gut feeling began to increase as Bella's misfortune kept rising. It had already begun to spike when seeing Bella standing in the rain, heartbroken and soaked to the bone, but it only intensified when a few days later, she came down with a high fever and a cold.

The day after we returned from Forks, we began talking about Bella's living arrangements, but she didn't seem at all focused in the conversation. Halfway through our talk, Bella excused herself, proclaiming that she was exhausted, and went to bed in the middle of the afternoon. It worried me that she didn't come down for supper that night and I tried to give her some space, but sadly, the next day, Bella's fever got worse, which only raised my worry and my need to help her through all of this.

Liam and I both agreed that one of us would look after the pub and the other would take care of Bella. Seeing as Liam was still a little subjective about Bella staying with us, I decided to be the one to take care of her while Liam looked after our quaint restaurant with Maggie. In all honesty, I didn't mind looking after Bella. Since finding her on the side of the road, barely alive, something inside of me simply… clicked. Something drew me closer to her and I wanted to help her.

And these recent events simply pushed me to help her even more.

When I couldn't get Bella's fever to break, my first instinct was to bring her to the hospital, but she was against it. It didn't surprise me in the least that she didn't want to be brought to the hospital. After being in and out of the hospital so many times in just a few years, she told me, she was entitled to refrain from entering another hospital for a long time. After talking to Liam for a little while, we decided to call in a close friend of ours, who practiced in the medical field, so he could come and check on her.

Randall was a friend that Peter had met in school. At the time, Peter and Charlotte had been dating since the ninth grade and Randall had just moved from America to study abroad—exactly like Peter and Charlotte had done. At first, Randall seemed out of place, so we tried to make him feel comfortable in our group and that is when he met his mate, Mary.

Mary was Peter's youngest—and only—sister. Peter's father was in the military and his entire family moved to Ireland before Peter started university. Charlotte, having loved Peter since high school, decided to follow him and pursue her dreams of studying abroad which she has not regretted to this day. As we entered our second year, Mary had just begun her postsecondary studies at the same university as us. Peter was very protective of his family, so he brought Mary into our group and that's where she was first introduced to Randall.

It was love at first sight for the both of them. The minute they met, Randall immediately wanted to know more about her. Even though Mary studied the fine arts and Randall medicine, they still found time to stay together and let their love flourish. After both of them finished school, they got married and decided to go back to their American roots to settle down.

They had recently moved to Seattle, mainly for Liam's work, and Randall would do anything to help, which made us even more determined to call him.

He came over, examined Bella and her wound,—one can never be too careful with someone injured—and discovered that it had become infected, but declared that she would be fine with some bed rest and medicine, then gave us instructions on how to take care of it from home. After a cup of coffee and some friendly conversation, Randall made his way back to his wife and home while Liam went back to work at the pub.

On the second day, Bella's fever began to slowly go down, but not enough to quench my worry for her welfare. I'd kept tending to her and that's when things became uncomfortable between the two of us—at least for the next few days to come.

In the middle of the afternoon, I decided to bring Bella a bowl of soup along with some Tylenol and a glass of water, seeing as she hadn't eaten anything all day and seemed a little dehydrated. When I reached the attic, I knocked softly on the door and entered, looking over at the bed, finding Bella with her back to the door. Even from here, anyone could come in this room and instantly be worried about Bella's heavy breathing.

"Hey darlin', brought ye some chicken noodle soup that might help, along with some medicine for ye to take," I explained, walking over to her, tray in hand. She slowly turned onto her back, blinking at me tiredly. My eyes redirected themselves to the sweat that was still beading on her forehead. Yesterday, I'd placed a cold washcloth on her forehead, trying to bring her fever down. It had helped a little but not enough to satisfy me. Walking over, I placed the tray on the nightstand and looked down at her, softly touching the back of my hand to her forehead to test her temperature manually. It still seemed a little bit high to the touch, but only the thermometer would ease my worries completely.

"How are ye feeling?"

"I'm alright… Still warm, but I think it's coming down…" It was no surprise that she felt warm. Randall had given us a tip, telling us it could help break Bella's fever by placing some thick blankets on top of her and it seemed to be working, but not enough for my standards.

Nodding slightly, I decided to once again place a washcloth on her forehead to try and ease her fever. I walked out of her room for a moment, going to the bathroom downstairs, and ran a cloth under the cold water before going back to the attic. After softly placing the cloth on her forehead, Bella opened her eyes slowly—and only halfway, might I add—and gazed up at me thoughtfully.

"I appreciate the gesture to take care of me, but you don't need to… Honestly… It'll go down on its own…"

"Nonsense, I want to. Yer back wound is still slightly infected, so I'd rather be here to make sure that ye're healing properly. Wouldn't want ye to get worse, now would we?" In that small moment, she reminded me so much of Emily. Bella was the type of person who cared about those around her, but never about herself, exactly like Emily. Even now, as Bella lay in bed with a fever, she didn't want to burden me. Emily had done the same thing. Stroking Bella's hair, I tried once again to get her to eat.

"Do ye want to try the soup? We can give ye yer medicine at the same time."

Bella nodded and tried to sit up, but I could tell by the way her arms were shaking that she was still quite weak. Without hesitation, I placed a hand behind her back and lifted her up, helping her lean back against the headboard, then placed the tray softly on her lap. She moved the wet cloth onto her stomach and began to slowly eat the homemade soup. I smiled as I watched her, my heart warming at the improvement. For the past few days, Bella hadn't been able to eat much, let alone keep it in her stomach, which was influenced by her fever as well as the Cullen's dismissal toward her. She'd been hoping with all her might for them to accept her, and that hope had gone up in flames in a matter of seconds. Even though I could tell that painful rejection was still affecting her, the soup seemed to be helping. Not to mention the return of her appetite. It was an absolute wonderful sight to see.

Once the soup was gone, I handed her the glass of water and the medicine, which she took slowly. When Bella finished, I helped her lie back down and placed the sheets up to her chin to keep her warm. Stroking her hair again, a small smile tugged on the corners of my lips as Bella's eyes closed. This reminded me so much of when Emily got sick a few years ago… She'd caught a bug while playing in the rain and had to stay in bed for a good long while before she was well enough to get up.

"While I was at school, Mum would take care of Emily, but had to leave to go to work as soon as I walked through the door. Mum had been working half days to help her get better, but her firm would only give her so many hours a day off, so at some point, she would tell me to take care of Emily for a while. I didn't mind it, though. I got to know Emily and treating Bella made me think back to when I had helped my sister get better.

The smile never left my face as Bella closed her eyes and my hand continued softly stroking her damp hair. Reluctantly, I pulled back and grabbed the tray, slowly standing up. "If ye need anything, jus' call. I'm right downstairs. Now, get some rest, Emily."

And that had been a huge mistake on my part, one that may result in good or bad consequences.

Just as I stood up, without even realizing what I had just said, Bella's confused voice broke through my happy trance and made me freeze in place, my eyes widening in shock. "Who's Emily…?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

My mind scrambled at her question and I finally realized what had just come out of my mouth. Oh no… I'd just mistaken Bella for Emily. Of course, I sometimes compared the two of them—which had bothered Liam the minute he met Bella—but never out loud in front of her. How was I going to explain this?

_Maybe… Maybe she simply heard me wrong._ _After all, she's sick. If I try the innocent act, she might be delirious enough to believe me,_ I thought hopefully.

Sitting back down, I brought my eyes back to hers, the tray still on my lap. "What do ye mean, dear?" I asked, trying to pretend nothing had happened.

"When you were leaving, you called me Emily… I was wondering who she is…" Bella asked, looking up at me with those brown eyes that looked exactly like Emily's. Now I knew that she had heard correctly. My mind had been thinking about Emily and her name had gotten mixed up with Bella's on accident. On many occasions now, I'd been comparing Bella to Emily without her knowing, but maybe it was best to explain all of this to her now.

"I understand if you don't want to say it… It's your life after all…"

Shaking my head, I smiled ever so softly and placed the tray on the nightstand before returning my gaze back to hers, placing the wet cloth back on her forehead before speaking again. "I want to. It's been too long since I've told anyone this story." Taking a deep breath, I began telling a tale that had been haunting me for years.

"Emily was my sister. Not in the genetic sense, mind ya, but she was still a big part of my life. Ye see, when I was just a wee little girl, my parents were driving through town and happened upon her, sitting in the rain and looking scared. I didn't know if she was just waiting for someone or simply lost, but I asked Mum to stop by the side of the road and we went over to her, umbrella in hand. She looked up at us with those big brown eyes full of fear and uncertainty. Even standing from afar;, I could tell that she was terrified. Mum looked her over, immediately noticing how many bruises were covering her face and the cuts on her arms. We asked her if she was lost and she just nodded.

"Mum felt a pang of compassion toward her and we asked her if she had any family. Obviously, Emily didn't want to tell us and we didn't pry. Mum simply offered her a place to stay for the night and she accepted it with little hesitation. That night, Emily got sick, just like you right now. Mum worked only half days to take care of her, seeing as we still knew nothing of this girl, and I was the one taking care of her in the afternoon. Emily was still a little shy of speaking to us, but she trusted me, maybe 'cause we were close to the same age. And with that earned trust, she started explaining to me what happened to her.

"She didn't go into detail, at least not at first, but Emily explained her parents had been having difficulties and that they were slowly growing apart. Her father had problems at work and her mum didn't work, which brought on even more trouble at home because they also had to care for. With all of these troubles, Emily's dad became violent, hurting her when she was at home. In the end… her father got so upset that he threw Emily out of the house and told her to leave. Of course, Emily tried to beg with her parents not to toss her out like a piece of trash, but they never answered. Maybe out of fright or because they didn't care, she'll never know. So, Emily walked the streets alone, freezing and helpless," I explained, redirecting my unfocused gaze to the wall as the memories flooded my mind.

"That's when you took her in, right…?" Bella asked after a few moments of silence, having been quiet during the beginning of the story.

Nodding, I kept my eyes trained on the wall in front of me as the images continued to flash through my mind. "I told my Mum the story and my parents decided to adopt Emily; to give her a good life after what she went through. Emily felt comfortable with us and chose to stay. She grew up happy and loved by all of us. Her and I… We… We were inseparable. Sisters forever…" My voice wavered at the end and my heart constricted painfully, knowing that the hardest part of the story would come shortly. "Even when Emily and I went to try and visit her parents, hoping that they hadn't simply abandoned her, it brought us closer. She saw that her mother began drinking and her father became uncaring. We didn't stick around long enough to find out the rest of their sorry lives, but, just in that one moment, a bond had been formed between us…"

Bella seemed to sense that something was wrong and looked up at me sadly. "What happened then…?" she questioned softly, trying not to be too curious, but her interest won over. Bella wasn't the first to ask this question, and it never got easier to tell this story.

Slowly reaching into my pocket, I fished out a small golden locket, opening it to reveal a picture of myself and Emily, smiling and Emily had her arms looped around my neck. The chain had broken off a few days ago and my schedule had been so busy that there was no possible time to go and get it fixed. But holding it close to me was all it took for the memories to come back and the crushing guilt to creep through my body.

Never taking my eyes off of the locket, I began explaining the night my sister's life was taken from me, speaking past the small lump that was stuck in my throat. "After we saw that Emily's parents really had abandoned her, Mum started filing the adoption papers right away. Knowing that we had evidence of her parents' wrongdoing, there were nearly no problems in adopting Emily;, or even to put her through school and obtain her medical papers. Everything was going so smoothly…

"Until one fateful night changed everything…

"It was in the middle of our junior year and we were supposed to go on a double date. Sam Uley, a boy in our class, had invited Emily to go to the movies with him and I was supposed to go with one of Sam's friends, but he cancelled at the last minute while I was waiting outside in front of the theater. Sam and Emily felt sorry for me and decided to invite me to tag along with them, but I didn't want to ruin their date.

"Emily felt awful and decided to spend the night with me at home instead of at the movies. Sam, feeling guilty about his friend's cowardice, agreed to the change of plans and decided to drive us all home. But, sadly, the weather had deteriorated for the worst. The rain had begun pouring down relentlessly, and the visibility was poor. Sam could barely see a few feet in front of him. And that's when things began to go horribly wrong.

"Sam didn't see the deer that ran into the middle of the road until the last second. When he finally saw the animal, Sam tried to swerve, but with the wet roads, his small jerk of the wheel made the car swerve uncontrollably, causing it to slam into a tree. It wrapped around the trunk of the tree, completely crushing the right side of the car. Emily was the only one sitting on that side.

"Sam and I weren't hurt that badly, but when we dragged Emily out of the totalled car, she wasn't conscious. I tried to wake her up, unaware that there was nothing anyone could have done to save her. There was just so much blood, it was pooling on the ground and it wasn't stopping, even though the rain was coming down hard. I cried and screamed for her to come back, even as the sirens approached, but she was gone. My sister died instantly… There was nothing that anyone could have done. She was gone," I finished, the lump remained stuck in my throat no matter how many times I tried swallowing to dislodge it. A small tear fell down my cheek as I placed the locket back in my pocket, turning my gaze toward Bella, who had never looked away the entire time I was speaking.

She hesitantly placed her hand on top of mine, trying to reassure me, and I could see the realization swirling through her weary brown eyes. "So… that's why you took me in…? Because the accident reminded you of Emily's death…?" she asked, her voice etched with fatigue as her fever began taking its toll on her. I knew that I needed to wrap this up quickly so Bella could get some rest. Otherwise, she would simply fall asleep while I spoke.

Giving her a small melancholic smile, I shrugged my shoulders and looked in her eyes. "I suppose, but that's only part of the reason. Liam keeps reminding me that ye're not Emily, but ye're both so similar that the other reason I suggested ye stay with us is because yer family abandoned ye like Emily's did. In the end, it all worked out." Grabbing the tray from the nightstand, I stood up and looked down at her, smiling softly. "Now, get some rest and I'll check in on you in a little while."

Bella smiled ever so slightly and nodded, closing her eyes and leaning back against the pillows tiredly. "Thank you very much, Siobhan… for everything…" she replied before beginning to drift off.

The smile never left my face as I softly closed the attic door behind me. Standing outside her door, my heart began to feel lighter, almost free, like a weight had been lifted from it. It felt almost liberating to tell someone about my past. The guilt still remained, but it had lessened considerably.

Maybe having Bella remain here was a good thing after all.

**So here's the new chapter. Hope you guys liked it. Please review.**

10


	10. Guilty nightmares

**Alright so I'm updating this as a double post. I want to update this story along with me and Dragongirl323's story **_**Together in Darkness**_** (go check it out and please leave a review if you like and want to) so every TWO WEEKS, I'll be updating this story and the new one. Well, you might get it earlier if we have both chapters up before the two weeks are up but that all depends. So please be patient but for now, here is the new chapter that my beta, Dragongirl323, edited for you guys. She has made an exceptional job helping me with this and I am grateful for all the changes she makes and helps with it. **

**So now, read and review please!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 9

Guilty nightmares

**Alice's Point of View**

_Darkness… The only thing surrounding me was darkness. Not even a patch of light existed to guide my way. Where was I? I spun around, trying to find some light in this never ending blackness, which was only a waste of time. There was nothing but inky blackness. I tried marching through the shadows, my arms held up in front of me in case I ran into anything, hoping to find a way out, but knowing that there was none. It simply seemed as though I was walking in place… not going anywhere. _

_That is, until someone appeared in front of me, illuminated by a single beam of light above them._

_As I slowed to a standstill, my eyes fully took in who was in front of me. It was Bella, standing there in a plain black V neck shirt and dark jeans. In one hand, she held my purse and, in the other, a golden locket. From afar, it was difficult to analyse what the necklace looked like, but it was clearly obvious what this scene was. This was the day Bella had 'framed' me at school; the day when I began to doubt her true intentions. _

_It was also the day that I broke my sister's heart… well, part of it anyway._

_Walking slowly toward her, I felt my heart reach out to her. It had been days since she'd gone missing and everyone was trying their hardest to find any sort of lead. Of course, every single search came up empty but we weren't about to give up. As we gazed into one another's eyes, I tried to understand the meaning of this. Why was she here, especially with those objects in her hand? Why go back to that first heartbreak?_

_My feet stopped and planted themselves firmly not far from her. Suddenly, words began flowing from my throat out of their own accord, unwillingly being spoken. "_How dare you do that to me? What'd I ever do to you?_" How was this happening? Why couldn't I control my speech patterns? It was as if my entire body was taken over by the darkness surrounding us. _

_Bella simply kept staring at me, not saying a word. The darkness seemed to thicken with the silence surrounding us as Bella remained quiet for several moments, just like when we first had this conversation. As the silence became uncomfortable, unintentional anger seemed to boil within me, just like before. This was exactly like déjà-vu. Whatever this was, it was only a recollection of the first moment that I broke my sister's heart. _

_And the next words spoken would only make things worse._

"You're not my sister anymore. I doubt you even know the _meaning_ of the word! Stay away from me._" It seemed as though my words inflicted more damage than the first time. As I was looking at Bella, a small crack formed in her chest, almost like a spider web expanding and going in every direction. With everything that had happened in Bella's life, from the moment her mother died to now, no one could truly realize how those words really did hurt her in unimaginable ways. _

_As the cracks slowly expanded, Bella's gaze fell down to the floor behind me, which made me slightly curious as to what she could be looking at. After reluctantly shifting my gaze behind me, my mouth fell open in shock. My mother was lying on the floor, crumpled in a pool of her own blood with a hand clutching her stomach. Blood spurted from under her frail hand and trailed down to the black floor, now quickly becoming red and leaking on my shoes. _

_Rushing over to her, I knelt in the puddle of blood and tried to stop the bleeding—which, of course, I was unable to do. I was only capable of watching the life quickly leave my mother's body as Bella stood watch over us both. Turning my head sharply to look at my sister, another spark of fury ignited within me and my legs straightened, quickly lifting me from the floor. I knew what was going to happen next, but—just like before—my body seemed to be moving of its own accord. I tried pleading with it, urging my legs to stop moving, but nothing worked. I was a passenger within my own mind. And, as Bella and I stood one in front of the other, my hand quickly shot up and collided roughly with her cheek, making the cracks form even more across her body, almost to the point where she could break at any second. _

_Why couldn't this nightmare end?!_

"Why are you just standing there? Don't you care about her? Mom's _dying_ and you're just standing there doing _nothing_!_" I screamed unintentionally, wanting nothing more than to stop this and help Bella instead of destroying her. Bella's head mechanically turned back toward me, the crack in her neck growing more with each subtle movement. When she remained quiet, my hands shot out once more to grasp her shoulders—even against my will—and they began shaking her roughly, the anger within me boiling over. _

"She cared about you more than anyone! And you're letting her die!_" _

_And, just as the word 'die' was uttered, Bella shattered under my grasp, breaking into hundreds of pieces and flying through the gust of wind that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Losing my balance slightly, I watched as my sister's fragments blew away out of my reach._

_What had I just done…?_

"Bella…?_" I whispered, turning around in every possible direction, hoping to see her reappear somewhere in the darkness. But, out of false hope, there was still nothing around me. There was just the blackness that threatened to engulf me completely, nothing more and nothing less. "_Bella…? Bella, where are you? Please, I'm sorry! Please come back!_" I screamed, trying to run in the direction Bella's shattered pieces flew away, but once again, it seemed as though I was running in place. _

_Knowing that running would do no good, I stopped and tried to find some opening in this unending darkness, only to find the shadows beginning to coil around me, slowly encompassing my feet and slithering up my body. I tried struggling against the cold and empty darkness, but it was no use. Soon, I would be wrapped in this substance, choking on the hatred I used to feel towards Bella._

_The shadows had now wrapped around nearly all of my body and were slowly moving up my neck when suddenly, a man's voice rang out in the darkness, only making my blood run ice cold—well, let's just say colder than it already was. _

"She'll die knowing that you all hate her!_" were the last words I heard before the shadows covered my mouth, nose and ears, moving up to my eyes and completely engulfing me. _

NO!

I shot up in my bed, panting as sweat trickled down my neck and forehead. My hands were balled into tight fists, gripping the sheets so tightly that my knuckles were turning white. Tears were slowly forming in the corners of my eyes and running down my cheeks, fusing together with the sweat. Glancing around the room, the realization began to set in and my mind finally comprehended that what had just happened was all just a horrible nightmare.

Closing my eyes, I tried to wipe the tears away but they wouldn't stop falling. It had been such a compelling nightmare that the memory of Bella's form drifting away kept eating at me. Everything that I had told her, everything that had been done to her, only pushed my sister farther away from us—which only increased the guilt that had never ceased to diminish since she disappeared.

Looking over at the clock, I could tell that it was still the middle of the night. But even with that knowledge in mind, it didn't help that my mind felt wide awake and my trembling body could not calm down enough to go back to sleep.

No, I could never go back to sleep now. My mind was already all over the place and my emotions were getting the better of me. Knowing that my sister might be dead or alive out there, partly because of me, it only made me feel even worse. It only made the thought of losing her forever burn hotter in my mind. Some part of it because of me but mostly, it was because of James, the one who had taken her. He manipulated her and made us hate her because of his need to play these sick, twisted games…

_She'll die knowing that you all hate her!_

"It's my fault…" I whispered to myself as the tears flowed once more down my cheeks, dripping onto my pyjamas as my fists clung tighter to the sheets. "Part of this is my fault… I should have been there for her… I should have helped her… But instead, I… I… And because of all of that, she… Bella might… " But I couldn't finish that sentence. It was too horrible to even think it, much less speak it out loud. More tears began falling as I closed my eyes and hung my head in shame. "I'm so sorry, Bella… I'm so sorry…"

With this overpowering guilt eating away at me, I wrapped my arms around my knees and brought my legs to my chest, rocking myself softly while silently sobbing apologies to my sister, knowing that she could not hear them now.

**Bella's Point of View**

_Darkness… The only thing surrounding me was darkness. Not even a patch of light existed to guide my way. Where was I? I looked around, trying to find some sort of opening in this never-ending darkness but there didn't seem to be one. I started walking, hoping that the darkness would somehow end, but, after what seemed like hours, hopelessness flowed through me and I knew that the darkness wouldn't subside. _

_But suddenly, a figured appeared out of nowhere. _

_It was Alice, standing before me with a murderous glare in her eye and Rosalie positioned directly beside her. Unlike Alice's perfect skin, Rosalie's was battered and bloody. There were cuts on her face and her left arm was by her side, bent in an unnatural angle to show that it was broken. This was how she looked when we met Rosalie at the hospital after the accident… _

_Yes, Rosalie was bloody and glaring but Alice's glare was even worse, if that were imaginable considering that Alice _never_ got mad—or at least this enraged._

"How dare you do that to me? What'd I ever do to you?You're not my sister anymore. I doubt you even know the _meaning_ of the word!_" she exclaimed, and it felt like my heart was giving out once more. It was bad enough hearing it once, but this… this was simply torture. Luckily, Rosalie didn't utter a word, which might have been for the best at this moment._

_I began backing away from them, but was stopped by someone behind me. Turning abruptly, my feet stumbled walked backwards while my eyes scanned the person in front of me. But what I saw made my heart stop in more ways than one. Edward, with his beautifully muscular arms crossed over his chest, turned his gaze down to me and a cold shiver shot down my spine as his cold eyes met mine. Taking a few steps back, I stared at the one who used to be my one true love and tried to find some sign of that love coming from him, but none remained._

_This was not the Edward I knew._

"The moment you said to me that I shouldn't be near you, I didn't listen. But I should have. Maybe it would have saved me from this heartbreak now,_"_ _he said, venom dripping from every word uttered out of his mouth. His words—once again, spoken from that horrible day in the parking lot, like a nightmarish déjà-vu—felt like a dozen stabs to the heart that would never heal. Already that Alice's words affected me, but this was Edward. Anything he said or did could affect me, good or bad. "_My only regret was loving you, Bella Swan._" _

_And those last eight words were my undoing. _

"Edward, I…_" I looked to my left, finding Emmett and Jasper standing beside one another, arms folded across their chests with the most hateful expressions I had ever seen. To my right, Carlisle stood behind Esme, his hands curled softly around her shoulders as Esme's stomach kept bleeding. Her bullet wound… The one James had caused because I was disobedient. _

_The red substance staining her shirt was very alarming, but what shocked me worse than the wound was the disappointed that they both held written across their faces. Since they've known me, all I've seen is appreciation and kindness from them but now, it was all gone. _

_My hope to ever be a part of the Cullen family again was gone forever._

"Esme, Carlisle. Please, I can explain…_" I wanted to beg them to let me back in but seeing their hateful expressions made me close my mouth and cut my sentence short. _

_Just as I began turning around to try and explain myself to everyone before me, they all disappeared into the darkness. Turning around frantically, my eyes detected that there was no one around me; only me and the darkness. I stopped turning, knowing there was no one around, but suddenly, I found myself face to face with Siobhan, Liam and Maggie, all of them wearing an expressionless face that showed that they weren't angry towards and neither were they me happy. They just held blank stares. _

"Siobhan…? Maggie…? Liam…? What are you all doing here?_" I asked, having the feeling that they would not be answering me anytime soon. And my feeling turned out to be right; they just continued staring at me. Siobhan held Maggie's left shoulder with one hand while Liam held the other with his; one happy family. "_What's going on here? What's—_"_

_Just as I began to ask more questions, a sharp pain erupted in my chest and I was sent flying backwards into a solid wall, my head cracking against the shadows with such force that stars began to dance before my eyes. Looking down at the area of numbing pain, I saw a large crowbar sticking out of my chest, blood seeping from the wound profusely. My hands and legs began to stain with the red substance as my eyes darted slowly back to the Connolly family, who now stood in front of the Cullens. They were all the people I cared about but I couldn't reach them. _

_Reaching a cold and shaking hand out towards them, I tried removing the crowbar from my bleeding chest with no result. The strength was fading quickly from my body and there was nothing that could save me now. Out of nowhere, James began to slowly walk toward the Connollys and the Cullens, holding a knife in his hand with a wicked grin plastered on his face. No… not him. Anyone but him._

"No… S… Stay away from them…_" I tried to shout, but the words got stuck in my throat._

_My vision began to blur as James' faint laugh echoed through the darkness. "_I told you, Bella. If you were to ever disobey me, they would suffer the price. They would die by my hands as you watched helplessly,_" he said before raising his knife and slicing it through the air, cutting everyone I cared about. I could only watch as they all fell to the floor, one on top of the other and staining the blackness with their blood. I tried feebly to reach out toward them with my shaking hand, but it was no use. I was stuck to the wall, the life draining right out of me, as James approached me, bloody knife in hand and laughing maniacally. "_You can't win, my dear Bella. I'll find you, and when I do, you will wish that you had never been born…_" _

_As James' laugh echoed louder through the shadows, my hand limply fell to my side as my vision faded, letting the darkness consume me. _

I'm so sorry everyone… Please forgive me… _That was my last thought before James' face filled my peripheral view and the darkness overtook me completely._

I woke up with a sharp gasp, breathing heavily, sitting up quickly in my bed when trying to catch my breath. Looking swiftly down at my chest, I patted it with my hand, trying to find the hole where the crowbar penetrated, but there was nothing, not even dried blood to prove that my nightmare was real.

Closing my eyes, my hand fell limply to my side and a shaky breath escaped my lips. _It was only a dream… They're still alive. At least, I hope so…_ I thought as I ran my fingers through my moist hair.

That was the hope that I tried to keep within my heart for the past few weeks. I'd given up everything so that they could be safe but now, seeing Siobhan and her family in my dream made me wonder if staying here was a good idea. They were willing to give me shelter but at what cost? James could easily find me and take what he wants, putting an end to anyone that gets in his way, even the Connollys…

He won't stop until he destroys me for good.

A few questions kept ringing through my mind as I lay back in my bed, looking at the ceiling before turning my gaze toward the wooden attic door. What if no one was safe? What if he would never stop…? What if all of my efforts were in vain, that James would have found a way to get to the Cullens and hurt them because I disobeyed him?

No, I would feel it if something happened to them, to Edward. A part of me would feel it. I would know if something wasn't right…

As I closed my eyes, knowing that sleep would not come back to me easily, I simply stared at the darkness behind my eyelids and told myself that, even if they all hated me now, I would know if the other half of my heart—the one I had left with Edward—was gone forever.

**So what did you all think? Good? Bad? Please let me know in some reviews! It would be really appreciated!**

**Mortal-paralight20**

10


	11. Gift from the past

**Ok so I know that it's been a little while that I've updated but here is the tenth chapter to this story. My wonderful friend DragonGirl323 has been gracious enough to beta my chapter again so I'm hoping that you all like her edited work. I'll try and update whenever I can but these days, I've had exams and the entire moving process back to Canada is stressful enough so I'm trying my best to update soon for you guys. Anyways, hope you all like this chapter so please READ AND REVIEW.**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

**PS: I've made my own FB page so if anyone would be kind enough to go and like it so that you can all get updates quicker and see them at two places instead of just one, that would be much appreciated! Here's the site:**

(Facebook dot com)/ #! / MortalParalight **(remove the spaces and please fill in the blanks that are written there, i.e.. (Facebook dot com) is the address of Facebook)**

Chapter 10

Gift from the past

**Siobhan's Point of View**

It had been three months since Bella decided to stay with us. Once her fever had gone down completely, we sat down all four of us and gave her the option to stay with us and work or try to find another place to live in until she turned eighteen—which shouldn't be very long now, according to her. Bella pondered her options carefully, but in the end, it hadn't taken her very long to decide to stay with us. Liam wondered why she made that particular decision, but I knew why.

It was as clear to me as a glass of water. When looking into Bella's eyes, I could see that she wasn't ready to forget the Cullens, but she also wasn't ready to try and search for a new home.

I could understand her point of view, if only slightly. When we adopted Emily, she hadn't wanted to go back to her family—even though we had given her the option to do so. When someone opens their door to you, after you believe that all hope is lost, you tend to get attached to those who offer you shelter, affection, and compassion.

And in this case, Bella had become attached to us, and us to her.

At first, it was the small things that made us—mainly Liam and Maggie—appreciate her more. Bella helped with the cooking, cleaned the house from time to time and worked extremely hard at the pub, trying to earn her keep. Of course, in the beginning, Bella wasn't the best waitress in town—seeing how clumsy she was at times—but with our help, we were able to help Bella keep her balance and keep the food off the floor—or on the customers' clothes.

But thankfully, in the end, Bella was able to learn balance and coordination—something that was essential for helping us around the pub.

Sadly, Bella knew that this James fellow was still looking for her. She didn't want to risk going out and being discovered or hurt others around her. To minimise that risk, we helped her hide her appearance by procuring her a wig and some blue colored contacts. We tried to say that she would look better with green eyes but she wouldn't let us explain. Bella was completely against it. In the beginning, I was perplexed by the quickness of her decisions but then my mind went into overdrive and I understood why. It reminded her too much of _him_, her Edward. And so we didn't go against her judgement. She even decided to continue playing her alias, Marie, until she knew that there was no more danger of being discovered by James or because of the posters.

Either way, she was protected as long as she was hidden from knowing eyes.

As time progressed, Maggie and Bella began to form a bond as well. In the beginning, they only appeared to be acquaintances but that soon developed into friendship—and even sisterhood. Both of them found common interests—such as literature and poetry—and created a bond that could not be severed easily.

But it wasn't just Maggie that developed a connection with Bella.

I had also started to grow attached to the girl living in our attic, but it was more in a motherly manner than Maggie or Liam. Considering the fact Bella reminded me a lot of my late adoptive sister, the closer I got to Bella, the stronger our connection grew and the closer we became.

You could even say that we had somewhat developed a mother/daughter bond in only three short months.

As time went on, Bella was still frightened by the idea that her pursuer could come after her at any moment. There were some nights that she would wake up in a cold sweat and be unable to fall back asleep—I should know. Sometimes she would even talk loudly in her sleep and startle me awake. And so, with the salary Bella earned from working at the pub, Bella had decided to enroll in a self-defense class four times per week. It had been helping her and she even went through the trouble of buying a punching bag to practice outside of her classes.

I could see that she was very adamant in protecting not only herself but those around her, if she could.

We also discovered that Bella was a talented musician and songwriter. One day, when Liam and I were out grocery shopping, we came back home to find Bella playing the guitar and singing to '_Set Fire to the Rain_' as Maggie played the piano. When Maggie found out about Bella's talents, she had wanted to see how artistic our new guest was. And when she discovered that Bella was born to sing, we tried to use Bella's gift for everyone's benefit: have her perform at the bar a few nights a week. Bella was hesitant at first,—what with her experience and everything—but after thinking it over, she agreed but had never wanted to perform her own songs. Even now, she still refused to even try.

But I could see it in her eyes every time she performed that she missed it.

Her yearning for her old life was apparent and even though Bella tried to hide it as much as possible, she couldn't fool me. My heart reached out to her for wanting everything to go back to normal and I wanted to respect her wishes but a part of me wanted to help her, offer her something that could somewhat fill the void of her past.

With that in mind, I began searching for music equipment, something that could benefit Bella and help her regain some confidence in writing her own songs. While searching, I stumbled upon an add from someone named 'Familylove38' who was selling an entire ensemble of music equipment and a laptop that came with it, all for a reasonable price. Contacting her, we were able to negotiate a fair price and discussed a meeting place—apparently, this person was coming to Seattle soon and she decided to meet me at the pub early in the morning on her way to town—to do the exchange, which would benefit us both.

A smile spread across my face the minute the meeting had been arranged. I knew that this would make Bella happy—at least, it was my hope. If she was looking for a piece of her past, maybe this little surprise would fill that void.

The days passed by and my meeting with the seller finally arrived. I was placing the groceries in the pub's kitchen while Bella—who decided to go out wearing her wig—cleaned the glasses behind the bar in the back when suddenly, the front door bell rang, signalling that someone was here. Bella and I looked up simultaneously as realization hit me. The seller was here. I couldn't let Bella know my plans. This_ was _supposed to be a surprise, after all.

Walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder softly, I gave Bella a small but comforting smile before saying, "Bella, why don't ye go and help Liam and Maggie upstairs with painting the office? I'm sure that they could use another hand." Once she was on her way upstairs, I shouted a quick "Come in!" to the person outside of the pub.

Bella paused and looked back at the door, briefly catching sight of a lock of familiar caramel coloured hair through the window, and froze. Following her gaze, I tried to see what she could possibly be afraid of but that confusion was simply put aside for now. We gazed back at one another and Bella nodded slowly, continuing up the stairs leading to the as a woman stepped inside carrying a large cardboard box in her hands.

Smiling, I walked over and helped her place the box down on one of the tables, noticing her gaze stray toward Bella's disappearing form before settling on me with gloomy eyes. Obviously, this woman had suffered greatly in the past—or was still suffering.

This woman looked to be in her mid forties and she looked strained, almost as if she hadn't slept well in weeks. Her piercing green eyes never wavered from mine as she placed the box down and leaned back against one of the chairs.

"Ye must be Familylover38. Hi, my name is Siobhan. And ye are?" I asked, extending my hand in a friendly manner, smiling softly at her as she shook my hand in return.

"Esme Cullen, a pleasure to meet you." I tried not to let my eyes widen as comprehension suddenly dawned on me, only now understanding the significance of her last name. Cullen, as in Bella's former family…

This must have been her mother, or better yet 'adoptive' mother, which meant that I was buying something expensivefrom Bella's former family.

How could I have not seen that…?

"Pleasure to meet ye as well…" I answered, trying to hide the slight waver that had crept into my voice. A sudden fear began to creep into my mind as we uncomfortably stared in each other's eyes. If she somehow found out that Bella was here, then everyone would be in trouble—physically and financially.

Clearing my throat, I looked inside the box to find a white portable computer, an electronic keyboard, music sheets and much more. Obviously, everything was in here. I began removing the money from my pocket before looking back at her and smiled, trying to appear as if nothing was wrong and get this meeting over with as soon as possible to keep Bella's secret intact. "Seeing as everything is here, here is yer money," I said, extending my hand towards hers and handing her the required amount before placing my hands in my pockets, anxiety spreading through my body.

Esme verified the amount and nodded toward me, a small melancholic smile forming on her face. Something troubled me about that fake smile of hers… Just as I was about to ask her something, Mrs. Cullen said, "Thank you very much. I…hope that you enjoy using all this… They're very—"

"Ye don't want to do this, do ye?"

This question seemed to have taken her by surprise because she stopped midsentence to gaze back into my eyes curiously, straightening her body and asking, "What do you mean?"

A small chuckle escaped my lips and I crossed my arms over my chest before gazing back in her confused eyes. "I can see it in yer eyes. This box holds something dear to ye and selling it to a complete stranger isn't what ye want to do," I explained, watching her sigh and sit down on one of the chairs at the table, then took a seat opposite from her.

Simply gazing at her, Esme took a few moments to regain her bearings, kept her gaze on the ground before finally speaking again. "My husband believes that it's time to sell everything and I'm trying to agree with him but…" Sighing, Esme looked up at me and tried to smile genuinely this time. "I'm very sorry to trouble you with this. I really do hope that you enjoy this set. It's practically new, seeing as it hasn't been used in the last three months… The person who had it before used it, quite a lot actually…but she always took great care of it. I think some of her music sheets might still be in there…" she said, gazing at the box and seeming to be lost in thought.

_Did this box belong to Bella…?_ I asked myself as Esme turned her attention back to me, stood up and grabbed hold of her purse.

"Please do make sure that you use this equipment with the utmost care… You seem to be a kind woman so I assume I'm leaving this in good hands," she said, smiling softly at me before starting to walk toward the door.

"Of course, I'll take great care of it."

Smiling slightly, Esme grabbed a hold of the knob and began opening the door slowly. But she didn't walk out as expected. Instead, she asked something that made my body freeze in place out of fear. "If I might be so bold to ask, who was that girl with the blond hair…? You know, the one that exited the room before I walked in?" she asked, turning to face me with her hand still wrapped around the door handle. Her eyes seemed desperate somehow as she searched mine for some answer that might help her.

Panic started to tighten around me as her eyes pierced mine desperately. Maybe telling the truth couldn't hurt…at least part of it anyways. "That was Marie. We employed her a few weeks ago." Well, she didn't have to know _how_ many weeks that Bella had been working here…

Esme nodded sadly and turned her attention to the floor, seeming to stare into space. "She just looked like someone important to us…" Mrs. Cullen turned her attention back to me after a few uncomfortable moments and bit her lip before rummaging through her purse for something. Having piqued at my attention, I inclined myself toward her—simply to see what was hidden inside her handbag—and saw Esme take out a small yellow half folded flyer.

_Oh no… _

"If it's not too much to ask, would it be possible to ask if you've seen this young lady?" she asked, walking over to me and opening the flyer, showing me an exact replica of the 'missing person' that Charlotte had showed me on our lunch outing. "She…She's my daughter and she went missing about three months ago. Dark brown hair, brown eyes, has a few scars on her arms and legs. She likes to go by Bella. Have you seen her anywhere?"

Looking up from the flyer, I could see that Mrs. Cullen was desperately hoping for a yes. But I couldn't just tell her that Bella was here…right? That would go against what Bella wanted. Bella wasn't ready to try and talk to them, not after what she saw.

_So what should I do now? _I thought to myself when looking in Esme's eyes. _What would Bella want me to do? Would she rather I tell the truth or keep to my promise?_

Biting my lip nervously, I tried to come up with a reasonable answer and finally said, "I think I saw someone like that a few weeks ago but it was from quite far away so I wouldn't be able to give you a specific answer." The minute those words escaped my mouth, Esme's expression flattened and she sighed in exasperation. It was almost as if her hope had deflated with my half lie.

Esme sighed once again before nodding and looking in my eyes. "Please call me if you see her. We just want her to come home," she said before turning toward the door once more, attempting to leave.

My heart clenched at seeing her hopeless eyes and, biting my lip, I took a step towards her and said, "I…I wouldn't give hope just yet." She turned around and raised one of her eyebrows, looking at me with confusion, but I simply smiled at her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, gazing deeply into her eyes before continuing. "I think yer daughter is simply having a hard time returning home. Give her some time and don't give up. I'm sure she'll find her way soon."

At least I had kept my promise to some point.

The next day, after carefully wrapping the box of musical equipment, I knocked on Bella's attic door and heard her say a small 'come in'. Walking in with the large present in hand, Bella looked up from her large novel and narrowed her eyes to stare at the box inquisitively.

"What's going on?" Bella asked, placing her book down on her bed and standing up, walking over to me and looking from the box to me. "What's with the box?"

"Actually, it's a present." Extending the box toward her, she narrowed her eyes once more and looked down at the present in her arms. "From us to ye. We hope that you like it," I said, smiling at her as she looked at me curiously.

Bella hesitated a few moments before placing the box on her bed. "There really wasn't any need to give me this," she said, before beginning to unwrap her present, looking at me from time to time as I walked over to her bed, sitting on the edge of it. Watching her sit down and unwrap the rest of the present, a smile began to spread on my face as Bella opened the box and gasped at the contents inside. "This can't be…" she whispered while moving her hand slowly to her mouth, covering it as she rummaged through the contents.

A few tears fell down her cheeks slowly as Bella began removing some of the equipment from the box. My gut feeling was right; these _were_ Bella's belongings.

Bella's eyes fell on mine as more tears fell down her face. "How did you get a hold of this...? This is all of my old music equipment..." Just as I was about to speak, realisation began to dawn on Bella's face and she sighed, looking back down at the box. "Esme... It was her that came in yesterday."

"I didn't know it was her until she said her name. I was trying to find a way for ye to feel less lonely and this seemed like the perfect gift." Looking in her eyes, I tried to find some inkling in them that she liked what I'd done and hesitated. "Do ye...like it?"

Bella nodded and closed her eyes, placing her forehead against the edge of the box and letting the tears fall silently. "I never thought that I would see this again... I had thrown it away when James gave me that task. I...I really don't know what to say."

"Just... Just say thank ye," I said, fishing out the flyer from my back pocket and handing it to her. Bella lifted her head, about to tell me thank you, but the words got stuck in her throat as she gazed at the flyer with wide eyes, taking it slowly from my hand and gazing down at it, speechless now. "She was asking about ye. Apparently, they've been looking for ye since yer disappearance. She asked me to keep an eye out for you but..."

"Did you tell her that I was here?" Bella asked, her eyes snapping up to look into mine with a panicked gaze. Shaking my head, she sighed and relaxed against her pillows, looking down at the flyer in her hand.

"I really do think that ye should maybe consider calling her, or at least letting her know that ye're alright," I suggested, seeing Bella's eyes lift up and gazing back into mine. "She honestly seems worried about ye. She told me that she just wants ye to go home. Maybe...maybe you should consider it. Sleep on it and make your decision."

Bella kept gazing at me and hesitated a few moments before sighing and looking down at her hands where she had placed them on her lap. "I know that it might sound selfish, but I'm…I'm just not ready to go back to the disappointment and the betrayed looks. I hurt them beyond comprehension, even almost got some of them killed, and I don't know if I'm ready to go back to see that in their eyes," Bella explained, twirling her thumbs together. "I know that's all I'm going to see if I go there. And I can't see _him_. He regrets loving me, maybe even meeting me. That's the last thing that he said to my face... I can't go back to see that and to be told that again."

Bella looked up at me and her expression just seemed so lost. It broke my heart to see her like this... "I know that' it means staying here longer than I should but I...I'm just not ready yet. If I were to go back, I'd have to think about it long and hard..."

Nodding to her, I stood up and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, smiling softly at her. "That's alright. I know that what ye went through is very traumatic and that ye want some time to think things through. Take yer time. And enjoy yer equipment. I'm sure ye'll love using it again," I said before beginning to leave her room.

Just as my hand reached for the door handle, Bella spoke up and said, "Thank you very much for everything. I hope you all know how grateful I am for everything that you have given me. No one—except the Cullens—has ever been this kind to me before."

Turning around to face her, I smiled warmly at her and nodded. "We know. We see it in yer eyes every single day. And we love having ye around. Ye're a very kind person. Any family would be thrilled to have ye as their daughter."

**Ok so what did you all think? Did you like the small twist that was formed when I had Esme show up? Well, please leave your thoughts about this chapter in some REVIEWS to see the EXTREMELY large twist that will come up in the next chapter!**

**Mortal-paralight**

11


	12. Search for the truth

**Alright guys, so now that my exams are over, I'm going to finally have more time to write. Considering that this is the part that I've wanted to write for a long time, the words are now flowing freely and technically, you guys should get more chapters soon. Even now, once my wonderful beta DragonGirl323 will be done editing my chapter 12, I'll be able to post it extremely soon. So anyways, here is chapter 11. Hope you guys like it. So please, READ AND REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight!**

**PS: You guys might be getting longer chapters from now on, seeing as these are the parts that I've wanted to write for a while now. Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 11

Search for the truth

**Edward's Point of View**

Three months…

Three months without any leads whatsoever on my Bella's location. The police had abandoned their search for her—saying that it was a dead-end and that they were closing the case now that James was in prison for good—and nearly everyone around me had begun to lose hope; all except me, my mother and Alice.

Rosalie had started to abandon hope after the first month and a half, and it only got worse along the way as the police began to give up and close the case. Dad had been trying to be supportive for Mom, but it was hard on the both of them. Mom didn't even walk past Bella's room anymore... It was too much for her to think that the police weren't doing anything anymore and that there were no leads anywhere on my beloved.

As for Alice and I, we hadn't stopped putting up flyers around town and asking if anyone had seen my beloved. As usual, no one had seen Bella anywhere... I tried not to get discouraged by the fact that Bella was nowhere to be found, but sadly, hopelessness kept creeping into my system.

But if our roles were reversed and Bella were the one to look day and night for me, she would never give up. And neither will I.

On the first Saturday of the month, Mom had to run errands in Seattle to get some furniture delivered for the house. Seeing as this was the only company that Mom liked and trusted, she decided to drive to Seattle herself and ended up returning late in the afternoon. School was starting on Monday, so Alice and I were enjoying our last days of freedom before entering our senior year. Rosalie had just graduated from Forks High and would be attending Seattle University at the end of the month, which meant that she was in the middle of packing half of her things—Seattle is only about two hours away, so she would be able to come home on weekends to be with her family—when Mom finally came back home with slight depression etched across her face.

Worry began to thread through me as I placed my book down on the coffee table and walked over to her. "Hey Mom, what's the matter?" I asked, leaning against the counter as she put away her purse and kicked off her shoes on the door mat.

Mom smiled softly, but somewhat tiredly, at me and nodded, walking over to the pantry to see what we could eat for supper. "Just...just had a long day is all. How have you all been?" she asked, beginning to make tonight's meal.

Shrugging, I had begun to speak when suddenly, Dad opened the door and walked in, placing his briefcase by the door and removing his trench coat before walking over to us. "Hello dear, how was your day at work?" Mom asked, smiling over to her husband as she began to cut some vegetables.

Dad smiled softly back at her and kissed her cheek before looking over at all of us. "It was good. Nothing really happened at the hospital today," Dad explained, smiling at us before turning his attention to his wife. "Did she buy all of it?"

That had piqued my attention. What had Mom sold? And why did she suddenly look mournful at the mere mention of that sale?

Mom nodded sadly and looked at him. "Yeah, she bought everything... Said in the email that it was a present for someone she knew. I suppose that it'll make this person very happy..." she admitted, gathering a wad of cash from her purse and meeting his gaze with a desolate one of her own as he placed the money on the counter in front of him.

"What did you sell?" I asked as Alice and Rosalie began to approach us, standing on the sideline and simply listening to the conversation.

Dad shot me a curious glance before looking at my mother in slight shock. "I thought you had told him...?" he asked, watching as my mother looked down and closed her eyes sadly.

Mom looked up at me and began making her way around the counter, fidgeting with her hands as she tried to come up with the right words. "Edward, we were going to tell you eventually, but we just didn't—"

"Mom, what did you sell?" I asked once more, my panic beginning to rise at their secrecy. What were they hiding from us? And why was Mom so agitated because of this? Mom normally doesn't get this emotional over something as benign as a simple sale.

Mom sighed and stopped advancing toward me, keeping her hands bunched together as she stared at me with trepidation. It took her a few moments to speak up, but she finally said, "We sold Bella's music equipment."

The blood froze in my body as my eyes widened. They had sold my beloved's music equipment? How could they have done that? How could they already be selling her things?! She wasn't gone! We were going to find her and yet, they've already been thinking about selling her things.

"I know that you're upset, Edward, but your father believes that it's finally time to...to start moving on. I don't want to, but it has been three months... The police have closed the case and we might have to start thinking that maybe—"

"You're already giving up on her?! She's not gone! She can't be gone! We just haven't looked everywhere for her! You might be giving up on her but I haven't! Where did you sell them?!" My voice rose with every word spoken. My anger was getting the best of me. How could my parents be giving up on Bella already? She wasn't gone... We might be hitting a bit of a snag right now and haven't gotten any leads but that doesn't mean we have to give up. Bella wouldn't give up on me if this was me in her situation, and I won't give up on her, no matter what.

Mom sighed and locked gazes with me, her eyes desperately telling me to understand. But I was in no mood to understand anything. The only thing that I understood was that my family was giving up on Bella, and that was unacceptable. "Edward, please, let's just—"

"Where?!" I asked again, frustration and impatience beginning to settle in me.

Mom sighed as Dad walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, trying to give her his moral support. "An Irish pub in downtown Seattle, but Edward, you can't just—"

I didn't let my mother finish her sentence. I simply snatched the money on the counter, marched over to the garage, grabbed my keys and entered the car, all the while hearing them shout for me to return. But I didn't go back.

This wasn't right. This was just a sign of surrender on their part.  
I wasn't giving up so easily. I would go over to Seattle—wrong as this may be to do—tell the man or woman that bought my beloved's equipment that this was a horrible mistake and ask them to give me Bella's things back with a full refund. Yes, it was unreasonable to do that, but I couldn't just let them take her things... It wasn't fair to both Bella and us. We were supposed to be her family and yet, we were giving up on her as if she meant so little...

Maybe...maybe she _was_ gone, but I wasn't ready to admit that yet, not until I had proof. Not until I knew in my heart that she was gone for real.

It took me about two hours to finally arrive in Seattle and a few more minutes to arrive at the Irish pub that my mother had mentioned. During this mid-afternoon drive, I was able to get my thoughts in order. But sadly, they were still quite jumbled because of the unrelenting fury that was running through me. My anger toward my parents never subsided. It grew and grew as the thought of them selling a piece of Bella's life replayed over and over in my mind. Music was my beloved's everything...and they were willing to sell something that valuable to her.

After parking the car in front of the pub, I cut the engine and laid back against the seat, trying to clear my head. How was I going to do this now that I was here? It had to be approached delicately, considering that I was asking this woman or man to give back something they had purchased fairly. Maybe it was best to simply attack this politely and see how it goes...

Besides, there was no going back now.

Taking a deep breath, I exited my car and began walking toward the entrance to the pub, opening the door and finding a few people inside, eating meals at some tables and drinking beer—or perhaps something stronger—at the bar. Keeping my hands to my side, a middle aged woman with thick black hair walked over to me, staring down at the notepad in her hand.

"Hi, welcome to the Connolly pub. Table for..." The woman looked up and the large, inviting smile completely vanished from her face, and her mouth dropped open as if she was seeing a ghost, "one...? Dear lord, ye're the boy from the picture."

That completely floored me. What was she talking about? What picture? The only thing I could come up with was a simple, "I beg your pardon?" as my strategy was completely blown to pieces. My plan had been to come here, try to get my beloved's equipment back and then be on my way. That was it.

This...this was quite the setback.

The woman shook her head and smiled, if not a little nervously, pulling a menu off the hostess station and holding it to her side. "I just...just feel like I know ye from somewhere." A slight chuckle escaped her lips and she looked back at me. "Sorry, must be the start of old age, ye know?" Her Irish accent told me that she wasn't from around here. Was I really at the right place? With how she reacted after seeing me, there was a good possibility that I _was_, indeed, at the right place.

Nodding slightly but hesitantly, I reached into my pocket, starting to get the money out and ready to ask for my love's equipment back when my hand suddenly froze around the money as realization suddenly hit me. This wasn't right... How could I be doing this? Trying to take something back from someone who seemed genuinely sincere, that wasn't like me, even if it was for my beloved. Had I really driven all this way just to find out that this was wrong?

Simple answer: yes.

Sighing, I took my hand out of my pocket, leaving the money where it was, and shook my head at her. The woman frowned, probably confused by my actions, and asked, "Are you alright?"

Nodding, I tried to smile back at her, but it came out more as a grimace than an actual smile. "Yeah... Sorry to have wasted your time when you have other clients waiting. I'm just...just gonna go," I said, starting to turn back toward the door, desperation settling in me. Even though my primary goal was to try and retrieve a part of my Bella's life, it wasn't right. I couldn't do this to someone, even though it took me nearly two and a half hours to figure that out.

Just as I was reaching for the door handle, the woman behind me said, "Hold on a second," which made me turn around and face her with slight curiosity. She walked over to me and tried to smile. "Ye came here for a reason. What was that reason, Edward?"

My eyes narrowed the moment she uttered my name. "How do you know my name?" I asked, confusion and unease beginning to surge through me. Who was this woman...?

The woman sighed and looked at me thoughtfully. "I think I know the reason why ye're here. Ye can take a seat at that table and in about an hour, my shift will be done and I can take ye to Marie," she said, making my confusion grow with every second passing. What was she going on about...? Who was Marie and why did I have to wait just to talk to someone?

"I don't know if I should. I mean, I don't—"

"I know that ye've been looking for someone for a while." My eyes widened at her statement. Bella... Did she know something about my beloved? "And I think I may be able to help. But ye're gonna have to wait until my shift is over. Is that alright with ye?" Nodding quickly, the woman smiled softly and walked me over to one of the empty booths in the pub, handing me the menu. "I'll bring ye over a drink on the house while ye wait. Is that alright?" Nodding once again, I asked for a soft drink as my anticipation began to rise. She nodded and smiled once more before putting her notepad back in her apron. "Alright, I'll bring that over to ye momentarily. And by the way, my name is Siobhan, just so ye know," she said before walking away to serve the other customers in the restaurant.

Excitement began to surge through me as I waited. What would I find once Siobhan came back? Who was this Marie person exactly? And why did I have to wait until Siobhan had finished her shift? Was this Marie woman—at least I hoped that it was a woman—the girl who could help me find Bella?

Could I somehow have my Bella back in my arms today?

As the time passed, my nerves were on high alert and impatience started to fill my heart. It had nearly been an hour and Siobhan was still serving customers. Of course, from time to time, she came over and tried to make me feel comfortable with more drinks, but after my fourth soda, my body was becoming agitated.

Then again, that might be because of the caffeine in the soda, but the point remains. Time was passing by and I was still waiting on my answers.

After more than an hour had passed, I started to stand up and leave the booth, figuring that this was all a waste of time when suddenly, Siobhan walked out of the kitchen, her apron gone, and smiled apologetically at me. "Sorry for the wait, didn't realize that we'd get so many customers," she apologized, standing a foot in front of me and still wearing that apologetic smile. Nodding slowly, she jutted her thumb over her shoulder to the back door and said, "If ye'll follow me, I'll bring you to our house and you can meet Be—I mean, Marie." I tried not to let my eyes widen at her slight fallout. What was she about to say? Could it be...?

No, I shouldn't be getting my hopes up this early. The only thing I should content myself with is the fact that Siobhan might help me find my beloved. That's all that mattered.

Siobhan brought me to the back and we passed through a small storage area where, at the far end of the room, there was another door, this one with a lock on it. The Irish woman unlocked the door and we both walked through to find a quaint living room. So this must be her home... It wasn't uncommon for someone to own a restaurant and have it linked to their home. It was easy access. Siobhan motioned for me to follow her and waved her hand at the couch.

"Please make yerself comfortable. I'll call her down and she should be here momentarily. I believe she just came back from her self defence class," Siobhan said, walking over to the stairs and shouting, "Marie! Could ye come down here for a moment, please?"

"Coming!" a heavenly voice called back, wafting down from upstairs. My eyes widened when linking both the voice and the person together. It couldn't be... No, it wasn't possible.

I stood up, my entire body rigid with anticipation, curiosity and disbelief. Footsteps could be heard from upstairs as someone was coming down. As my heart began to beat faster against my chest, the mysterious figure suddenly came down the stairs, making my heart stop completely. No... This had to be a dream. This wasn't real.

As a woman with blond hair and blue eyes came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, she had been about to say something when her eyes finally rested on me and she froze.

"Edward...?" she gasped, my beloved's voice rang through the room around me, warming my heart at the sound.

Even though I knew that she was wearing a disguise, there was no denying that this was my beloved. Slowly walking over to her, a smile began forming on my face as I gazed at her. My eyes couldn't look away from hers. After more than three months apart, there was no way that I was looking away now. If I did, she might just slip through my fingers.

Standing in front of her, she remained silent as my fingers grazed over her cheek softly, revelling in the touch of her skin against mine again. Moving my hand slowly up to her hair, I removed the wig and held it in my hands, letting her luscious dark brown hair fall to her shoulders, just like it used to. The smile on my face widened.

"Bella..." I whispered, moving my hand to cup her cheek. Thankfully, she didn't move away from my touch as I gazed lovingly into her eyes.

After all this time, she was finally in my reach. I could finally hold her again. My fingers could finally wind through her hair again and my lips could softly kiss hers...

My Bella was back. "Bella…" I repeated, unable to believe that she was finally here with me. "My beautiful, sweet Bella." Without a moment's hesitation, my lips came down on hers softly, kissing her passionately as we used to. At first, she froze and didn't react, but after a few moments, she started kissing me back, placing a tender hand against the centre of my chest.

After a little while, she pulled away, both of us out of breath, but I didn't care about my lack of air for the moment. All I cared about was having my beloved back in my arms, being able to touch her once more. As Bella looked up at me with those unfamiliar blue eyes, confusion swept over her as she tried to grasp everything.

"What are you doing here…? How did you find me?" Bella looked over at Siobhan, who had been leaning against the back of the couch the entire time, and began to appear slightly panicked. "I thought you hadn't told Esme that I was here?" she asked, making me wonder what was happening at the moment.

Looking back at Siobhan, the Irish lady said, "I didn't tell her anything. Seems as though the boy might have figured it out on his own. But I can't see why... I didn't tell his mother anything," and settling her violet-blue eyes on me, her gaze only expressing blatant curiosity. Can't deny that I was feeling a little confused myself. All of this was a lot to bear at once.

Looking back at Bella, I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close to me as if she would vanish from my arms just like in my dreams, and looked down into her eyes. "Mom said that she had sold your music equipment to Siobhan. I was angry and I had come here to get your stuff back because it belonged to you." Looking back at Siobhan, sudden realization dawned on me and a small chuckle escaped my lips. Turning my gaze back to Bella's, I smiled and said, "I suppose that it was a bit foolish of me to do that, seeing as Mom sold it back to you, in a sense."

But sadly, Bella didn't laugh or smile like she used to. Instead, she simply looked at me with an expression of confusion and pain. But...why would she feel this way? Wouldn't she be just as happy as I was? And... Wait a second...

Removing my arms from around Bella, I turned my body towards Siobhan and an expression of anger crossed my face. "You knew she was here all along and you didn't tell anyone, or even _called_ us?! We'd been looking _everywhere_ for her and she was here all along?! Why didn't you notify anyone?! Why not call the police when—"

My angry rant was interrupted by Bella taking a hold of my hand and saying, "I didn't want her to tell anyone."

That had caught my attention. Moving my body to face Bella once again, I entwined my fingers with hers and looked down into her eyes, trying to find the reason behind this through them but finding nothing. "Why...? Why wouldn't you want to come home?" I asked, my voice dissolving into a small whisper at the end.

Bella closed her eyes and began to walk towards the table, taking a hold of the top of one of the chairs and bowing her head. "I told you; it's not my home anymore. It hasn't been since everything happened. And...and I wasn't ready to go back to you. Not with what happened before I was taken and what you said."

Immeasurable guilt began to wrap itself around my heart and a deep frown made its way onto my face, unable to look away from my Bella's back. She didn't want to come home because of how we reacted to her...how I reacted when she 'broke up' with me. Bella sighed and turned back to look at me, her eyes holding such pain that it was hard for me to keep looking at them.

Turning my head to the side, I closed my eyes as she began speaking again. "There are so many things that you don't know or even understand Edward but please...please don't think that I did this to hurt you again. I just..." Bella stopped speaking and sighed, remaining silent now.

Looking back at her, I tried to comprehend everything but the only thing that mattered to me was that Bella was still alive. If she had decided to stay away from us, it must have been for a good reason.  
In the past, with everything that had happened with James and the notes he had left her, I hadn't wanted to trust Bella, let alone try to understand her point of view.

Now, it was time to change.

Walking over to her, I wrapped my right arm around her waist, bringing her closer to my chest, and placed my finger under her chin, turning her head to look at me. Opening her eyes, our gazes locked as my lips brushed softly against her for a few moments before placing my forehead against hers.

"Then tell me. I want to understand. If I can understand, then I can keep you with me. I can't lose you again Bella. Let me understand."

Bella looked at me for a few moments before nodding slightly, locking gazes with me. "If you have some time to spare, then I can tell you."

**Alright so what did you think of the little reunion? Even better, what did you think of the entire chapter? Please let me know your point of view in some REVIEWS!**

**Mortal-paralight**

12


	13. Explanations

**Alright…so, to say I'm disappointed by the lack of reviews is an understatement. I would have figured that I would have gotten more, seeing as I gave you guys what you wanted. You guys wanted Bella and Edward to reunite, and I gave you that, but there was barely any reviews… Is it because the story is going downhill? Or the writing (even with the fabulous help of my beta, DragonGirl323) is bad? Well…guess I can't expect to get reviews all the time… Anyways, please read and review…**

**Disclaimer = I don't own Twilight.**

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Chapter 12

Explanations

**Bella's Point of View**

Having Edward here with me seemed to heal some of the cracks that had formed on my heart.

It felt as though the past could be forgotten.

My heart warmed at the thought that maybe we could start over, go back to how we were as a couple and a family before this entire thing with James began. But even though it felt that way and my hopes grew with that feeling, I knew that it could never be. Nothing would change…

The past would always haunt us, or at least me.

As Siobhan left the room to give us some privacy and Edward sat down next to me on the couch, I began fidgeting as panic began to settle within me. What would Edward do when he found out everything...? Would he stay and want me once more or would he leave and never want to see me? The latter seemed like the most predictable end result to this entire dilemma, but I would just have to see how he reacted...

Looking over at him, Edward kept his hands on his lap, his eyes never leaving mine. He looked at me with such passion and longing, just like that kiss the minute he saw me. It felt so right to touch his lips again that I had simply let myself be entranced with the embrace.

Which is why I had to pull back so abruptly.

It was hard to simply let go when, just a few months ago, he had told me that his only regret was ever falling in love with me.

"So..." I began, not exactly sure how to approach this conversation. Looking down, my eyes focused on my hands that were bunched in my lap and tried to stop my fidgeting. "What do you want to know exactly...?"

Edward remained silent for a few moments before saying, "Well, I know about what happened with the text messages and what was going on at that...strip club, so why not start with your escape? The police said that they found a lot of your blood in James' car. What happened...?" Edward asked, seeming to make a grand effort to keep his hands to himself.

Taking a deep breath, I looked up at him and started on what was going to be a lengthy explanation. "When I escaped from the cabin, James had stabbed me with a small knife that Jacob, his nephew, kept under his bed as a precaution."

Edward nodded while keeping direct eye contact with me. "I've met Jacob. He seems to have helped you a lot during your...your time away," Edward noted, trying to smile, even though it pained him to do so. Why there was pain in his expression, I could not tell.

Nodding, I forced myself to keep my gaze locked on his while continuing to speak. "He did... He was always the one who tried to stop James from hurting me. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't... But it was the effort that counted. Anyways, when James stabbed me, Jacob ran with me away from the cabin to try and get away from him but somehow, James found where we were and must have hurt Jacob.

"I was much too dazed to know what had actually happened to him but the next thing I knew, James is taking me away to his car, dragging me through the rain. With how roughly he was handling me, I was lucky to still be awake but the only thing that kept me from slipping into that darkness again was the pain that radiated from my back. I was already losing a lot of blood and it only made it worse when James tossed me into the passenger's side—which is probably where all that blood came from. James was getting impatient and, from what I can remember, he was ready to bring me to your front door and kill me in front of you all...and maybe kill you guys in the process."

Edward winced at the last sentence and seemed to look away slightly, taking a deep—but quite harsh—breath and looked back at me, taking a hold of one of my hands, rubbing his thumb across the back of my hand softly. Electricity shot through me at that small action. Even though he didn't love me anymore—at least, from past events, I was pretty sure that he didn't love me anymore—Edward would always have that effect on me.

"But you stopped him?" Signalling a small yes with my head, Edward squeezed my fingers softly and calmly asked, "How did you do it?"

A small, humorless chuckle escaped my throat at the hazy memory. "I knew that I had to stop him from hurting any of you. Even though I knew that you would never accept me again, I still had to stop him, even if it meant dying in the process. Besides, you would all be happier if I wasn't around to screw up anything anymore," I began, beginning to feel Edward's hand muscles contract with the start of the explanation.

"Bella, you know that—"

But I didn't let him finish. Instead, I simply pressed on, completely cutting him off. "With my condition, I didn't know if my plan would kill me in the process, but I had to try. So, when we approached a turn, I used all of my remaining strength to yank the steering wheel towards the side of the road, forcing James to try and swerve away, but with the ongoing rain, he lost control of the car and crashed into a tree—thankfully hitting his side of the car and not mine.

"I blacked out and figured that I was dying. But then I heard my mom's voice, telling me to wake up. Honestly, I just wanted to die. There was nothing holding me here anymore and everyone would be better off without me." Edward seemed to want to interrupt me once more, but I wouldn't let him. "She kept telling me to wake up but then..." I forced myself to stop, not wanting Edward to know that it was HIS voice that helped me wake up. Sadly, Edward seemed to want me to continue with my statement, embarrassing as it may be.

Sighing, I gathered all of my courage and said, "Then your voice drifted into my head and told me to wake up. I did and found the car totalled around me."

Edward smiled that wonderful grin of his and made me look away, becoming slowly confused by his actions. I'd broken his heart and his entire family, even nearly killing his mother and sister, but he didn't seem to care about any of that anymore... What was going on with him?

Keeping my gaze away from his, I continued with my explanation, trying to hide the blush that was slowly creeping up my cheeks. "Anyways, when I woke up, James was unconscious, so I limped out of the car and began to make my escape, but...but I looked back and felt some pity for leaving him there. He might have caused me so much pain, but letting him die that way wasn't right. He deserved to rot in jail instead of just bleeding to death in a ruined car. So, I limped back to the car, aware that my strength was leaving me quickly, and grabbed the phone out of the glove compartment and dialled 911," I told him, feeling Edward's hand tighten around mine as this part seemed to really upset him. At this point, I would give anything to know exactly what he thought of me... I wanted so badly to know if he still wanted me, even after all of this, after all he knew.

Taking a deep breath, I looked down at our joined hands and continued with retelling the memory of seeing the white light, then Siobhan and I's meeting at the hospital and how I lied by telling them my name was Marie. But now, it was time for the harder part…

"They bought the act for a while, but when they began to suspect that I was someone else entirely, it was time to face the fact and I told them the truth. Even...even after knowing the truth, they still wanted to help me. Unfortunately, Siobhan thought that it would be a good idea for me to see if you would all take me back. So... they brought me to Forks and I snuck into the forest and...and watched while you were eating dinner.

"I...I tried to keep an open mind in the beginning, but when I saw you and Angela acting all...well, all happy and seeming to have moved on, I simply..." Sighing, I looked back at Edward, seeing his expression turn to pain and sorrow, and finished by saying, "I walked away, knowing that you had all moved on and were happier without me in your life. That was three months ago... I've been here ever since."

Edward remained silent for so long that my heart began to beat faster with anxiety and fear. What if, now that he knew nearly everything, Edward would simply take off and this would be the last time that we would see one another? What if he wouldn't feel anything for me anymore and simply decided to move on, find someone new and perhaps better?

But he completely surprised me by wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me onto his lap as his lips moved to my neck, dotting open mouthed kisses across my skin. "So I wasn't dreaming. I _had_ seen you in the woods, even if it was only just a glimpse." So he must have seen me when I had walked away from the tree... Should have been more stealthy…

Placing a gentle finger under my chin, he turned my head to face him and gazed at me with those magnificently perfect emerald eyes of his. "Bella, if you had waited just a few more minutes, you would have seen how broken we are without you. Mom and Dad are trying their hardest to search for you, but it's getting harder with the police giving up on your case. We've put up flyers everywhere and every single person we meet, we ask them if they've seen you. No one has given up on you, especially not me." Looking deep into his eyes, I could tell that every word spoken was the truth. And knowing that he was, in fact, saying the truth seemed to warm my heart and release some of the weight on my shoulders. "Everyone simply wants you to come home, Bella. We want to feel complete again and we can't do that unless you come home and be where you belong," Edward stated, gazing into my eyes lovingly, just like he used to. But there was also a hint of desperation mixed inside those loving green eyes.

I hesitated, beginning to think over everything that had happened up until now. In the beginning, Charlie had been the biggest problem. But Edward and the rest of the Cullens had seemed to look past that and the moment that he was put in jail, I was able to start my life anew.

Unfortunately, when James came into the picture, everything fell out of place. Rosalie had gotten in an accident because of my disobedience, Alice had nearly gotten suspended, Edward's heart had been broken because of _him_, and Esme had nearly been killed because

I had been too loud on the phone.

If I were to go back, what would I be going back to?

Looking into Edward's eyes, I could tell that he desperately wanted me to come back with him. Even though that desperation was weighing heavily on my heart, there was something that needed to be said.

"Why? After everything that I've done, how can you all possibly want me back? I'm not even a real daughter to Esme and Carlisle," I blurted, unable to stop myself from asking this. It was partially essential to my decision, after all.

Edward smiled and cupped my cheek softly, never removing his gaze from mine. "It doesn't matter whether you're a biological Cullen or not. You're still a Cullen, and that will never change. And you'll always be my Bella, no matter what that psycho made you do to us all those months ago. We had already forgiven you the second we found out that he was manipulating you. We knew that you would never do something like this to us without a reason and now we know that we were right. You belong with us, Bella," Edward explained, planting a soft kiss upon my lips before looking into my eyes once more, smiling that mischievous grin of his that always made me melt.

Thinking through the options at hand, I was about to give him my answer when suddenly, Siobhan came running through the house like her heels were on fire and stopped just at the edge of the couch, looking panicked. Just seeing the expression on her face was enough to make me frown in confusion.

"What's the matter Siobhan?" I asked her, worried.

"Ye better take a look at this, Bella," she said, reaching for the television remote and turning it to the local news, making both Edward and I turn our heads toward the screen, wondering what was going on.

"We have breaking news, coming live from the Port Angeles Federal Prison. It appears as though former night club owner James Witherdale, has escaped and is now roaming free around the city." My heart nearly stopped and the blood in my body froze instantly at the news as they placed a picture of James' mug shot in the right hand corner of the screen. This couldn't be... "Police officials state that one of the prison guards, Victoria Sutherland," The news centre switched James' picture with a picture of a middle-aged woman with long, curly, vibrant orange hair that seemed to radiate like fire and devilish green eyes, "was the only accomplice involved in the crime and has escaped along with James. He is considered highly dangerous and possibly armed. If anyone sees either of them, we urge you to contact the nearest—"

Siobhan shut off the television before we could see the end of the broadcast. But my mind was already on high alert and too many questions were swirling through my head all at once.

He was on the loose. James was out of prison and was roaming around freely. What if he was coming after me again? What if he was coming after everyone that I cared for because I escaped his grasp? He could cause so much chaos if he wasn't stopped. James could easily hurt the Cullens if he wasn't stopped...

He could hurt Edward. Or even Siobhan and her family.

_Not while I'm still alive_, I thought with determination.

Siobhan looked at me sadly and held the remote in both of her hands, trying to find the right words to say. "We can always call the police and have them come to protect ye until they find him," she said, walking over to the couch and placing a tender hand on my shoulder.

Shaking my head, I looked her in the eyes and tried to remain as calm as possible. "No, it's alright. Unless we see any sign of him nearby, then we'll keep the police out of this," I said, smiling slightly at Siobhan before turning my head toward the man holding me.

Looking slowly back up at Edward, his eyes were just as wide as mine were just a few moments ago, but he was still staring at the screen. Obviously, this news upset him just as much as it did me. Edward's eyes moved to meet mine and his arms constricted tighter around me. "We'll take care of this, Bella. We'll keep you safe and—"

"I can't come back with you, Edward..."

His mouth opened slightly at my interruption, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, and shook his head while tightening his hold around me even more. "No, you _can_ come home. We can protect you from him. You can't do this on your own again, Bella. Once was hard enough," Edward asserted, pressing me to his chest to try and protect me from anything, stroking my hair softly. "I'm not losing you again, Bella. I'm not letting him take you away from me again. We're going to get through this together, no matter what."

Sighing sadly, I placed my hand against his chest, feeling his heart beat steadily against my palm and making me close my eyes. Simply being within his arms reminded me so much of the past, how it used to be. But now, everything's changed. The situation has changed. I can't be with him, not until James has been removed from the picture. Not until the danger is over and his family is safe again.

Looking up at him, I kept my hand where it was against his chest and tried to make my voice as calm as possible. "If you really want to keep me, then you should know that I'm not going anywhere. But I do have to stay away from you all, just until he's gone for good. I can't risk him coming after all of you and hurting one of you, especially you, Edward. After everything that I went through, all the pain I put you all through...if I go back now, it will all be for nothing."

Edward began to shake his head, trying to argue against my logic but he knew just as well as I did that the danger would not be over until James was gone for good. "Edward, ever since James entered my life and made me do all of those things to all of you, the only thing I've ever wanted was to be with you again and go back to how it used to be. But I can't now, not until the danger's out of the way. You should know that better than anyone." Cupping his cheek softly with my free hand, I tried to keep my voice calm while saying, "I want to be with you, but I can't right now... I have to stay away. He doesn't know where I am and so it'll be harder for him to find me. Please Edward... Please understand that it's just as hard to push you away now as it was when I broke your heart in that parking lot."

Edward never looked away from me as he moved one of his hands to cup my face gently, stroking my cheek softly while gazing into my eyes. "I just can't lose you again, Bella... You mean too much to me to just let you go again," Edward said, his voice low and filled with worry.

Smiling ever so softly, I pushed back all of the painful memories of the past and kissed Edward on the jaw, looking back in his eyes and placing my free hand over his. "I know that it'll take a while to forget the past, but...you won't lose me, Edward. Even if we're apart for a little bit of time, it doesn't mean that we'll be apart completely," I said, just staring into his eyes intently.

Edward frowned slightly but sighed, placing his forehead against mine once more and closing his eyes, wrapping both arms around my waist and pulling me closer to him. "At least let me keep in touch with you while you're away from me. I can't bear to know that you're here and that I can't talk to you at all," Edward pleaded, opening his eyes to gaze down into mine.

Hesitantly, I began to bite my lower lip and started to think through the consequences of keeping in touch with him. If James could easily spy on me and survey my every move, he could easily keep tabs on Edward's calls or texts. Could I really put them through this unneeded danger?

But...looking in Edward's emerald eyes, I could tell that he desperately wanted to keep in contact with me, even through this small distance.

Ever since I saw Edward at the bottom of the stairs, he'd been confusing me. His actions now are so much different than in the parking lot at school when I had dumped him that I didn't know how to react. Were his feelings for me still true? Was he really able to forget the horrible way that his heart had been ripped out of his chest because of me?

Maybe this distance would answer all of those questions... It would show me whether or not he truly wanted to be with me or simply blow me off and play with my emotions.

It would be my ultimate sign…

Sighing and nodding my head, that little gesture seemed to revitalize him completely and he grinned widely at me. "But I think that we should limit our talking to maybe two or three times a day. And it might be best to keep away from phone calls, in case he can track them. I really don't want to lure him to you or to me. I want the police to find him first..."

Edward seemed to not like this compromise but he nodded, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my forehead softly, his lips lingering on my skin for a few moments before pulling away to look in my eyes. "As long as I get to hear your voice a few times a day, I'll be more than alright," Edward said, moving his hand to cup my cheek and look up at the clock, frowning at the time. "Man...Mom's going to kill me when I get home. I was supposed to come here to get your stuff back and return the money to Siobhan. But she doesn't know that I found you instead."

Taking a hold of his hand in mine, I squeezed his fingers softly and said, "Please don't tell them that I'm here." Edward's eyes widened and his mouth opened to object but I shook my head and continued speaking before he could. "I'm not ready for them to find out that I'm here, or even still alive, Edward. Already that you found out that I was here is quite a big deal... I'm just...not ready for them to know. So please...please keep this a secret for now. Pretend as if you didn't find me and that you changed your mind about giving the money back—even though, at some point, we'll have to give Siobhan her money back."

Siobhan chuckled and shook her head, making both Edward and I turn our heads to look at her. "Honestly, there's no need, Bella. It was a gift after all," she replied, smiling softly at us before beginning to move toward the kitchen, probably going there to make supper for everyone.

Standing up, I walked over to her—having Edward hot on my trail and keeping his fingers entwined with mine—and said, "Yeah, but you didn't know that the equipment was mine and that I paid for it a few months ago. When this is all over, I'll give you your money back and it'll be as if you never paid for any of it," I said, placing my hands on one of the chairs while Edward's hands moved to cup my shoulders softly. I had to admit that, even though Edward being here was extremely confusing, it felt nice to be able to touch him or even be near him again.

Chuckling, Siobhan looked up at me and said, "Alright, if it means that much to ye, then when this is all over, ye can pay me back, even though it's really unnecessary," before returning to the pots and pans before her.

I closed my eyes and chuckled, turning my body toward Edward and finally seeing the time for myself. It was nearly seven o'clock. Even if Edward left now, he would arrive back in Forks quite late tonight. Looking back at Siobhan, she seemed to read my thoughts directly and placed the pot in her hand on the counter and turned her attention to Edward. "If ye'd like to stay for dinner, you're more than welcome to grab a bite and then go back home. I'm sure Bella won't mind having ye around for a little while longer," Siobhan offered, making me look into Edward's eyes and seeing the slight shock in them.

"I...I don't want to intrude," Edward replied politely, looking at me before turning his gaze to Siobhan.

Siobhan smiled and shook her head. "Ye wouldn't be imposing. I'm offering, so there's no inconvenience, unless ye want to go back home now," she said, putting some water in the pot and placing it on the stove, looking at us from time to time.

Edward looked at me for a few moments before squeezing my hand and looking at Siobhan with a soft smile. "Thank you for the invitation. A few more minutes with Bella would be fantastic," he said, moving his hand around my waist and bringing me into his side, stroking my arm softly.

Siobhan nodded and smiled, motioning for us to sit down so that we could talk a little more before supper was ready. To say that having Edward with me for a little while longer elevated my mood was an understatement.

Having Edward beside me lifted my heart and made me think that maybe...maybe there was hope for me after all.

**Edward's Point of View**

Siobhan had made pasta for everyone and it was very appreciated that I was able to spend more time with my beloved. Bella and I talked about everything and anything, just like we used to when no one was after her. And, as we talked, my smile only seemed to widen. My Bella was here and we were talking and laughing just like before...well, that is before James had forcefully told her to break up with me.

Which is also something that we would have to talk about before I left.

As we all ate, I got to know Siobhan and Liam a little better. They seemed to really care for Bella, as if she were nearly their own daughter. But that wasn't the only thing that warmed my heart. Even if there was a risk that James came after them, they were willing to take it so that they could look after her. None of us wanted her to be on her own and so, Liam and Siobhan gave Bella the opportunity to stay with them so she would be protected at some point. Of course, Bella argued that it wasn't safe for them but Siobhan wouldn't hear it.  
Bella would be in good company until she came back home. That much I knew.

Before supper began, I had called my mother, saying that I ran into a small delay and would be coming home around nine, which she didn't argue about. But it was obvious that she sounded ever so slightly disappointed in me for my actions. What she didn't know yet was that I never gave the money back. I found something even better than simple music equipment that belonged to my beloved. I found my beloved, period. That was good enough for me.

Later on, it would be good enough for her as well.

When supper came to an end though, dread began to course through me at the thought of leaving Bella once more. Of course, this time it wasn't going to be a long goodbye but it was one nonetheless. Being away from her for so long had made me realize how much I needed her and how deeply my love was for her. I could easily forget about the horrible day in the parking lot when Bella told me that it was over. I could forget it because it wasn't out of free will. _He'd_ told her to do it. And there was no way that she could be blamed for that.  
Bella walked me to the door, her hands stuffed in her back pockets as I reached into my jeans to grab my keys.

Bella looked up and gazed into my eyes tentatively. "You got my number in your cell?" she asked, standing about a foot in front of me, not close enough for my taste.

Nodding slowly, I reduced the distance between us by stepping forward and wrapping my arms around her waist, bringing her to my chest. "Are you sure you don't want to come back with me? I know that James will probably suspect that you're with us but we can easily protect you from him. We wouldn't have to be apart anymore," I said, trying with all my might to have her come back with me, but also knowing that her safety would always come first.

She shook her head. "I know you want me to come back, but I can't for now. Not until all of this is settled," she replied, continuing to hold my gaze intensely, trying to convey her seriousness through her beautiful brown eyes.

Sighing in defeat, I nodded and wrapped my arms tighter around her, never wanting to release her, but knowing that it must be done sooner or later. "I'll at least text message you during the day and at night so that we can still stay in communication. Being that far away from you without being able to see or touch you will drive me insane."

Chuckling humourlessly, Bella nodded slowly and looked down, placing her forehead against my chest as I buried my nose in her hair, breathing in her luscious scent of freesia and strawberries. Some things never change...

To me, Bella would never change. She would always be the selfless and wonderfully beautiful woman that I fell in love with.

"I know," Bella began saying, keeping her face where it was against my chest. After a few moments of silence, my beloved looked up and gazed into my eyes softly. "How can you forgive me so easily? After everything that I've done..."

As she said that last unfinished sentence, my Bella returned her gaze to the floor once more and tried desperately not to look at me. Softly placing a finger under her chin, I lifted her head slowly and stared softly into those warm chocolate brown eyes that I fell in love with. "Let me ask you something: did you want to break up with me all those months ago?"

Bella shook her head, this time keeping our gazes locked as a smile slowly made its way to my face. "Then now you know how I can forgive you. It wasn't your intention to hurt any of us, Bella. We all know that. I know that our love can't be broken by a psychopath such as James. I love you no matter what, Bella. That will never change."

And with that, I brought my lips down to hers and kissed her passionately.

Bella hesitated at first, but fell into the rhythm of the kiss easily, cupping the back of my neck softly and lifting herself on the tip of her toes, trying to bring herself as close to me as possible. I moved my left hand to cup her nape softly while the other rested against the small of her back, moving my lips in sync with hers, just like before.

My heart warmed at the intensity of our kiss and the memories it brought back. All the happy memories of our relationship came rushing back with the kiss—which, sadly, ended far too quickly for my taste as we both pulled back for air.

Looking in her eyes, I smiled and pecked her lips softly again, removing my arms unwillingly from around her waist to hold her hands. "I should go. Mom is going to be even angrier with me if I come back too late," I said, rubbing soft circles on the back of my beloved's hand.

Bella nodded and smiled softly at me. "Send me a text tonight so I know you got home safely?" she asked, making me smile even wider and nod at her request. My Bella nodded and leaned her forehead against mine, closing her eyes momentarily before looking back in my emerald eyes. "Drive safe, alright?"

"I will, don't worry. And you stay safe. We'll get the police back on the case as quickly as possible and we'll bring you back home soon. You can count on me," I said, kissing her forehead softly and beginning to pull back reluctantly to grab the front door's handle. Looking back at Bella, I grinned and said, "I love you, Bella."

It took her a few moments, but, in the end, my beloved said those words back to me and my heart swelled with adoration for her. I could tell that she was feeling confused right now, but with time, I would help her feel loved again. With one last kiss, I walked out of Siobhan's house, my smile never leaving my face.

My Bella was safe. Our love was still alive. James would be found and sent back to prison, and my Bella would be home soon.

My beloved would be back in my arms again, even if it killed me.

**So, I know that there was a lot of repeat, but I wanted to include Edward's reactions during Bella's explanation. Anyways, please let me know what you thought in some reviews…**

**Mortal-paralight**

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